George Washington Vanderbilt II

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John Singer Sargent : Portrait of George Washington Vanderbilt II, oil on canvas, 1890

George Washington Vanderbilt II (born November 14, 1862 in New Dorp , Staten Island , New York , † March 6, 1914 in Washington, DC ) was an American art collector . He was a member of the famous Vanderbilt family.

Life

He was the youngest child of American entrepreneurs William Henry Vanderbilt and Maria Louisa Kissam.

Vanderbilt built the Biltmore Estate , which he owned. He was married to the suffragette Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt (1873-1958) and had a daughter with her, Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt.

Together with his wife he traveled a lot and quickly made contact with European high society in London , Paris , Venice , Rome , Capri and Munich . The banquets , dance balls , garden parties, dinners , fox hunts, dance evenings and costume parties of the European high and American money aristocracy were famous and filled the social columns of the newspapers. To escape the hustle and bustle of life, the couple retired to their mansion, the Biltmore Estate , built by architect Richard Morris Hunt in Asheville , North Carolina . In 1912 he and his wife booked a passage on the passenger ship RMS Titanic , but at short notice they decided not to take part in the voyage and rebooked on the RMS Olympic . However, her luggage and her servant Edwin Wheeler were already on board the Titanic . Wheeler was killed in the accident.

In 1914, Vanderbilt died suddenly as a result of an anesthetic mistake during an operation. His grave is in the Vanderbilt family mausoleum in the Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp, Staten Island, New York.

literature

  • Arthur T. Vanderbilt II: Fortune's Children. The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt Quill / William Morrow, New York 1989, ISBN 0-688-10386-3 , p. 40 (the death of GW Vanderbilt I), pp. 55-83 (William H. Vanderbilt), p 271-279 (George W. Vanderbilt III).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New York Times: "GW Vanderbilt Dies Suddenly. Seemed to be Recovering from Operation for Appendicitis When Heart Failed"
personal data
SURNAME Vanderbilt, George Washington II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American art collector
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH New Dorp , Staten Island , New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1914
Place of death Washington, DC , United States