Ava Alice Muriel Astor

Ava Alice Muriel Astor (July 7, 1902 – July 19, 1956) was an American heiress, socialite, and member of the Astor family. She was the daughter of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing, and sister of Vincent Astor and half-sister of John Jacob Astor VI.

Early life

Ava Astor was born on July 7, 1902, in Manhattan, New York City. She was the only daughter of Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912) who died in the sinking of the Titanic and Ava Lowle Willing (1868–1958).

Her paternal grandparents were real estate businessman and race horse breeder/owner William Backhouse Astor, Jr. (1829–1892) and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn (1830–1908), while her maternal grandparents were businessman Edward Shippen Willing (1822–1906) and socialite Alice Caroline Barton (1833–1903).

In September 1911, Ava and her mother moved to England. They lived in her townhouse on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London (from October–April) and her country estate, Sutton Place in Guildford, Surrey (from May–September), and she was educated at Notting Hill High School.

Personal life

On July 24, 1924, Ava Astor married Prince Sergei Platonovich "Serge" Obolensky, son of General Platon Sergeyevich Obolensky and Maria Konstantinovna Naryshkina, at Savoy Chapel in London. The marriage was considered the event of the season in England that year.

Her brother Vincent gave her a Palladian Revival stone residence on his estate near Rhinebeck, New York. The house was north of his own "Ferncliff Casino" ("Astor Courts") and also overlooked the Hudson River. Ava named it "Marienruh" and retained it through her life. Before divorcing Serge in 1932, they had two children:

• Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky (1925–2019), who married Claire McGinnis in 1949. They divorced in 1956 and he married Mary Elizabeth Morris in 1959.
• Princess Sylvia Sergeyevna Obolensky (1931–1997), who married Jean-Louis Ganshof van der Meersch, in 1950. They divorced in 1957 and she married Prince Azamat Kadir Guirey, in 1957. They divorced in 1963.

On January 21, 1933, she married Raimund von Hofmannsthal (1906–1974), son of Gertrud Schlesinger and Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the Austrian poet, novelist, librettist, and dramatist. He was said to be the father of Sylvia. The couple was married in the city court of Newark, New Jersey. Together, the couple had a daughter:

• Romana von Hofmannsthal (1935–2014), who married Roderick McEwen, a son of Sir John McEwen, 1st Baronet, in 1958.

From 1936 to 1937, she had an affair with English choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton (1904–1988), despite the fact that he was gay. After the affair ended, her love for him continued, though she had two subsequent marriages. Ava and Raimund eventually divorced in 1939, and Raimund later married Lady Elizabeth Paget (a daughter of Charles Paget, 6th Marquess of Anglesey).

On March 27, 1940, she married Philip John Ryves Harding (1906–1972), a journalist, in Faversham, England. At the time of their wedding, Harding, a cousin of Maxwell Eley, was serving with an anti-aircraft battery in the British Army. Before their divorce in 1945, they had one daughter:

• Emily Sophia Harding (1941–2019), who married architect Michael Zimmer, a son of Heinrich Zimmer (and nephew of her second husband Raimund), on June 29, 1963. They divorced and she later married Eric Glanbard and artist Clark Murray in 2017.

On May 12, 1946, she had her fourth and final marriage to David Pleydell-Bouverie (1911–1994), the grandson of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 5th Earl of Radnor, in Reading, Vermont. Pleydell-Bouverie was an architect who studied at Charterhouse School in England.

Death

Astor died of a stroke in her 219 East Sixty-first Street apartment, Manhattan, New York City, on July 19, 1956, at age 54. She predeceased her mother by two years. She was a patron of the arts, including the ballet companies of London and New York City.

Her will was admitted to probate on November 5, 1956, in Manhattan Surrogate Court. Her assets, totaling $5,305,000, (equivalent to approximately $59,452,362 in 2023 dollars) were divided among her four children. At her mother's death in 1958, her children received an additional $2,500,000 (equivalent to approximately $26,401,384 in 2023 dollars)

References

1. Ava Lowle Willing
2. Astor family
3. John Jacob Astor IV
4. Ava (given name)
5. Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky
6. Serge Obolensky
7. John Jacob Astor VI
8. Ava
9. Raimund von Hofmannsthal
10. Sylvia Guirey
11. Obolensky
12. Hofmannsthal
13. Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham
14. Astor (surname)
15. Heinrich Zimmer
16. André Poniatowski
17. Alexis Obolensky
18. Marjorie Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey
19. Hugo von Hofmannsthal
20. Susan Ridgway Willing