Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky

Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky
Born (1925-05-15) 15 May 1925
London, England
Education St. George's School
Alma mater Yale University
Spouse(s)
Claire Elizabeth McGinnis
(m. 1949; div. 1956)

Mary Elizabeth Morris
(m. 1959; her death 2006)
Children 4
Parent(s) Sergei Platonovich Obolensky
Ava Alice Muriel Astor
Relatives See Astor family

Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky (born 15 May 1925) is an American New York City-based financial analyst and corporate officer. He was previously commissioned in the United States Navy, serving as a Flight Lieutenant, and has also been a publisher.[1]

Early life

Obolensky was born in London, Middlesex, on 15 May 1925, to Sergei Platonovich "Serge" Obolensky and Ava Alice Muriel Astor. Through his mother, he is a great-great-great-grandson of John Jacob Astor and the elder grandson of John Jacob Astor IV, who died on the RMS Titanic.[1]

Ivan was educated at St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island, and graduated from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1947. While at Yale, he was a member of St. Elmo, a senior secret society.

Career

After Yale, Obolensky became a writer working for Telavid Inc. Imports, and went on to serve with the United States Navy as a pilot. In 1957, he formed a publishing firm McDowell, Obolensky Inc. with a partner, David McDowell. The firm published James Agee's Pulitzer Prize novel, A Death in the Family (1957), and was the U.S. publisher for Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1959). It was dissolved in 1960. Obolensky then formed a second publishing house, Ivan Obolensky, Inc. This firm continued through 1965, when he joined the investment banking firm of A. T. Brod & Company as a partner.[1]The publishing house continued until 1968 under the name Astor-Honor.

Throughout his main career on Wall Street as a financial analyst, Obolensky has covered many prestigious accounts. He was Vice President of Moseley, Hallgarten, Estabrook & Weeden Inc., Stock brokers and is currently Vice President of Shields & Company. Obolensky is an active member of the philanthropic community in New York. He has, for many years, been an active supporter of the Soldiers', Sailors', Marines', Coast Guard and Airmen's Club,[2] and New York's International Debutante Ball,[3] which benefits the club. He is also Treasurer of the Russian Nobility Association in America, Inc.,[4] and the US Prior of the Orthodox Order of St. John.[5]

Personal life

Obolensky first married in New York City on October 10, 1949 to Claire Elizabeth McGinnis (1929–2015).[6][7] Claire was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco, the Finch Junior College in Manhattan, and at Miss Burke's School in San Francisco. She was the daughter of Felix Signoret McGinnis (1883–1945), vice-president of the Southern Pacific Company, and Clara (née Leonhardt) McGinnis (1887–1984). Before their divorce in 1956,[8] Ivan and Claire were the parents of one daughter and two sons:

  • Princess Marina "Maria" Ivanovna Obolensky (b. 1951), who married N. Carlton. She later married William D. Folwick (1932–2017).[7][9]
  • Prince Ivan Ivanovich Obolensky (b. 1952), who married Mary Jo Smith without issue.
  • Prince David Ivanovich Obolensky (b. 1953), who married Mary Catherine Hicks (b. 1952) on March 21, 1981.[10]

After their divorce, Claire married designer and art advisor Garrick C. Stephenson (1927–2007).[11][12] On October 22, 1959, Obolensky married for the second time to Mary Elizabeth Morris (1934–2006).[13][14] Together, they were the parents of one son:

  • Prince Sergei Ivanovich Obolensky (b. 1960), unmarried and without issue.

Descendants

Through his son David, he is the grandfather of Princess Natalya Elizabeth Davidovna Obolensky (b. 1984) and Princess Octavia Willing Davidovna Obolensky (b. 1989).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Edwin McDowell (9 October 1989). "The Media Business: Financial Analyst of Publishing Companies Who's Done a Thing or Two". New York Times. Even if there were such a thing as a typical Wall Street investment banker, Ivan Obolensky, the senior vice president of research for Josephthal & Company, would not be it. That is, not unless the typical investment banker was also the London-born son of a Russian prince and a grandson of John Jacob Astor, who is said to have been the wealthiest man in America when he went down with the Titanic. Mr. Obolensky, 64 years old, is also a Yale graduate, novelist, former United States Navy pilot and one-time book publisher whose first list produced James Agee's Pulitzer Prize novel, A Death in the Family. .....
  2. ↑ "A Welcome Mat for Soldiers and Sailors". The Wall Street Journal. 4 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "The Luckiest Girls in the World". The New York Observer. 30 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Officers". Russian Nobility Association Website. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Cardile, Paul. "Charity, Good Deeds, Culture: The Knights of the Orthodox Order of St. John, Russian Grand Priory". Social Register. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Claire Obolensky Excommunicated After Wedding in Russian Church". New York Times. 14 October 1949. Retrieved 26 October 2010. The New York Roman Catholic Archdiocese announced yesterday the excommunication from the church of the former Miss Claire Elizabeth McGinnis, who was married here on Monday to Ivan Obolensky.
  7. 1 2 Staff (April 24, 2015). "Claire McGinnis Stephenson". Palm Beach Daily News. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  8. ↑ http://www.howardmcginnis.com/retrospect/index.php?m=family&id=I34655
  9. ↑ "Obituary for William D. Folwick". Star Tribune. May 14, 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Mary Catherine Hicks Engaged". New York Times. 1 February 1981. Retrieved 5 May 2010. Mary Catherine Hicks and David Ivanovich Obolensky plan to be married March 21. Announcement of their engagement has been made by Mr. and Mrs. George Thomas Hicks of Nashville, parents of the future bride. Her fiance is the son of Mrs. Garrick C. Stephenson and Ivan Obolensky, both of New York, and a descendant of the original John Jacob Astor..... His father is a vice-president of Moseley, Hallgarten, Estabrook & Weeden Inc., stockbrokers. The future bridegroom is a grandson of Clara Leonhardt of San Francisco, the late Felix S. McGinnis, who was a vice president of the Southern Pacific Railroad; the late Ava Astor, and the late Serge Obolensky of New York, who ran his own public relations concern.
  11. ↑ "Paid Notice: Deaths STEPHENSON, GARRICK C." The New York Times. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  12. ↑ Korb, Priscila (27 August 2015). "Southampton Estate of Late Designer Garrick C. Stephenson Put on the Market". Southampton, NY Patch. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "Paid Notice: Deaths OBOLENSKY, MARY ELIZABETH MORRIS". New York Times. Retrieved August 2006. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  14. ↑ http://bellevueholidayrentals.com/russianaristocracy/600.html
  • Theroff, Paul. "Obolensky". www.angelfire.com/realm/gotha/ (Paul Theroff’s Royal Genealogy Site).
  • www.ancestry.com
  • www.ancestry.com
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.