Countess Szapary, 79; Led Newport Society
By ENID NEMY NEW YORK TIMES MARCH 3, 1998
Countess Anthony [Sylvia] Szapary, the doyenne of Newport society and the great-great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt who lived a good part of the year on the upper floors of the Breakers, maintaining the family's presence in the 70-room mansion built by her grandparents, died on Sunday at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. She was 79.
The Countess had suffered a stroke at her home in Pound Ridge, N.Y., her family said.
The former Sylvia Anita Gabriel Denise Irene Marie Szechenyi (pronounced sa-CHAIN-ee) was one of five daughters of Count Lazlo Szechenyi and Gladys Moore Vanderbilt Szechenyi. Her father was the first minister from Hungary to the United States and later served at the Court of St. James. Her mother was the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt 2d, who built the Breakers as the family's summer home.
The house, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and covering more than an acre of the 11-acre estate, was modeled after Renaissance palaces in Turin and Genoa, and was finished in 1895. The mansion, which, with furnishings costing $7 million, was one of the Gilded Age estates referred to by their owners at the time as cottages.
The Breakers was maintained as a private residence until 1947 when it was leased to the Preservation Society of Newport County for $1 a year. The maintenance and the taxes were paid by Countess Szechenyi until her death in 1965. The society bought the property in 1972, but Countess Szapary (pronounced sa-PAR-ee) continued to live in rooms on the third floor, and her devotion to the Breakers endured to the end of her life, officials of the society said yesterday. The original furnishings were not included in the sale of the property, but over the years Countess Szechenyi's descendants gave most of them to the society.
Countess Szapary, who was known as Syvie to her friends, was a lively woman with strong opinions, an impish sense of humor and an adventurous spirit. As a child, she used a large silver tray to toboggan down the impressive staircase at the Breakers, a tradition that younger members of the Vanderbilt family are said to have carried on. She also rode her bicycle at breakneck speed around the great hall, and during World War II, when the house was shuttered, she maintained, tongue in cheek, that she kept America safe through her volunteer work as a plane spotter on the roof of a boys school in Newport.
In her later years, after the Breakers was opened to tourists (who were always called guests, at her insistence), she would occasionally join the tour group, casually dressed, her identity unknown, and correct the guides if she believed they had made a mistake.
Born in Remete, in Austria-Hungary, on Oct. 9, 1918, the Countess attended the Potomac School in Washington, Miss Faunce's School in London and the Chateau Brilliantmont in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1949, she married Count Anthony Szapary, a founder of the Hungarian National Sports Federation. Earlier, during World War II, he had been sent to a concentration camp for activities with the Hungarian Red Cross and his relief work for Polish and Jewish refugees. He was released through the intervention of King Gustav V of Sweden and came to the United States in 1947, becoming an adviser to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. He died in 1972.
The Countess is survived by a son, Paul, and a daughter, Gladys Szapary, both of Manhattan, and a sister, Countess Ferdinandine Eltz of Salzburg, Austria.
Countess Szapary was a former president of the Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport and was actively involved in the Newport Preservation Society. She was an organizer of the Newport Coaching weekends and aided several charities. She enjoyed both giving and going to parties and, as an avid amateur photographer, almost always had a small camera slung around her neck at the many social occasions in which she took part. She was known among her friends for the small albums of photographs that she often sent to other celebrators.
Countess Szapary was chairwoman of the 1995 centennial celebration of the Breakers, for which she created, in the stables of the estate, ''New York Central With the Vanderbilts,'' a small-scale version of the New York Central Lines, founded by Cornelius Vanderbilt. The model was created using her own trains and has become a favorite display for the younger guests of the house.
Creating an image that has endured among preservationists as well as family members, the Countess appeared at the opening, immediately before the family ball was to begin, clad in a T-shirt with a New York Central logo, an engineer's cap and a bandaged foot.
''She told me she had hurt it bungee jumping,'' said Alfred Vanderbilt Jr., a cousin.
--------------
Countess Szapary was proud of her descent from prominent 18th century Newporters Ebenezer and Mary Ward Flagg, and commissioned a book, on the remarkable Flagg portraits, now largely at the Redwood Library in Newport.
By ENID NEMY NEW YORK TIMES MARCH 3, 1998
Countess Anthony [Sylvia] Szapary, the doyenne of Newport society and the great-great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt who lived a good part of the year on the upper floors of the Breakers, maintaining the family's presence in the 70-room mansion built by her grandparents, died on Sunday at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. She was 79.
The Countess had suffered a stroke at her home in Pound Ridge, N.Y., her family said.
The former Sylvia Anita Gabriel Denise Irene Marie Szechenyi (pronounced sa-CHAIN-ee) was one of five daughters of Count Lazlo Szechenyi and Gladys Moore Vanderbilt Szechenyi. Her father was the first minister from Hungary to the United States and later served at the Court of St. James. Her mother was the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt 2d, who built the Breakers as the family's summer home.
The house, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and covering more than an acre of the 11-acre estate, was modeled after Renaissance palaces in Turin and Genoa, and was finished in 1895. The mansion, which, with furnishings costing $7 million, was one of the Gilded Age estates referred to by their owners at the time as cottages.
The Breakers was maintained as a private residence until 1947 when it was leased to the Preservation Society of Newport County for $1 a year. The maintenance and the taxes were paid by Countess Szechenyi until her death in 1965. The society bought the property in 1972, but Countess Szapary (pronounced sa-PAR-ee) continued to live in rooms on the third floor, and her devotion to the Breakers endured to the end of her life, officials of the society said yesterday. The original furnishings were not included in the sale of the property, but over the years Countess Szechenyi's descendants gave most of them to the society.
Countess Szapary, who was known as Syvie to her friends, was a lively woman with strong opinions, an impish sense of humor and an adventurous spirit. As a child, she used a large silver tray to toboggan down the impressive staircase at the Breakers, a tradition that younger members of the Vanderbilt family are said to have carried on. She also rode her bicycle at breakneck speed around the great hall, and during World War II, when the house was shuttered, she maintained, tongue in cheek, that she kept America safe through her volunteer work as a plane spotter on the roof of a boys school in Newport.
In her later years, after the Breakers was opened to tourists (who were always called guests, at her insistence), she would occasionally join the tour group, casually dressed, her identity unknown, and correct the guides if she believed they had made a mistake.
Born in Remete, in Austria-Hungary, on Oct. 9, 1918, the Countess attended the Potomac School in Washington, Miss Faunce's School in London and the Chateau Brilliantmont in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1949, she married Count Anthony Szapary, a founder of the Hungarian National Sports Federation. Earlier, during World War II, he had been sent to a concentration camp for activities with the Hungarian Red Cross and his relief work for Polish and Jewish refugees. He was released through the intervention of King Gustav V of Sweden and came to the United States in 1947, becoming an adviser to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. He died in 1972.
The Countess is survived by a son, Paul, and a daughter, Gladys Szapary, both of Manhattan, and a sister, Countess Ferdinandine Eltz of Salzburg, Austria.
Countess Szapary was a former president of the Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport and was actively involved in the Newport Preservation Society. She was an organizer of the Newport Coaching weekends and aided several charities. She enjoyed both giving and going to parties and, as an avid amateur photographer, almost always had a small camera slung around her neck at the many social occasions in which she took part. She was known among her friends for the small albums of photographs that she often sent to other celebrators.
Countess Szapary was chairwoman of the 1995 centennial celebration of the Breakers, for which she created, in the stables of the estate, ''New York Central With the Vanderbilts,'' a small-scale version of the New York Central Lines, founded by Cornelius Vanderbilt. The model was created using her own trains and has become a favorite display for the younger guests of the house.
Creating an image that has endured among preservationists as well as family members, the Countess appeared at the opening, immediately before the family ball was to begin, clad in a T-shirt with a New York Central logo, an engineer's cap and a bandaged foot.
''She told me she had hurt it bungee jumping,'' said Alfred Vanderbilt Jr., a cousin.
--------------
Countess Szapary was proud of her descent from prominent 18th century Newporters Ebenezer and Mary Ward Flagg, and commissioned a book, on the remarkable Flagg portraits, now largely at the Redwood Library in Newport.
Countess Szapary, 79; Led Newport Society
By ENID NEMY NEW YORK TIMES MARCH 3, 1998
Countess Anthony [Sylvia] Szapary, the doyenne of Newport society and the great-great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt who lived a good part of the year on the upper floors of the Breakers, maintaining the family's presence in the 70-room mansion built by her grandparents, died on Sunday at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. She was 79.
The Countess had suffered a stroke at her home in Pound Ridge, N.Y., her family said.
The former Sylvia Anita Gabriel Denise Irene Marie Szechenyi (pronounced sa-CHAIN-ee) was one of five daughters of Count Lazlo Szechenyi and Gladys Moore Vanderbilt Szechenyi. Her father was the first minister from Hungary to the United States and later served at the Court of St. James. Her mother was the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt 2d, who built the Breakers as the family's summer home.
The house, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and covering more than an acre of the 11-acre estate, was modeled after Renaissance palaces in Turin and Genoa, and was finished in 1895. The mansion, which, with furnishings costing $7 million, was one of the Gilded Age estates referred to by their owners at the time as cottages.
The Breakers was maintained as a private residence until 1947 when it was leased to the Preservation Society of Newport County for $1 a year. The maintenance and the taxes were paid by Countess Szechenyi until her death in 1965. The society bought the property in 1972, but Countess Szapary (pronounced sa-PAR-ee) continued to live in rooms on the third floor, and her devotion to the Breakers endured to the end of her life, officials of the society said yesterday. The original furnishings were not included in the sale of the property, but over the years Countess Szechenyi's descendants gave most of them to the society.
Countess Szapary, who was known as Syvie to her friends, was a lively woman with strong opinions, an impish sense of humor and an adventurous spirit. As a child, she used a large silver tray to toboggan down the impressive staircase at the Breakers, a tradition that younger members of the Vanderbilt family are said to have carried on. She also rode her bicycle at breakneck speed around the great hall, and during World War II, when the house was shuttered, she maintained, tongue in cheek, that she kept America safe through her volunteer work as a plane spotter on the roof of a boys school in Newport.
In her later years, after the Breakers was opened to tourists (who were always called guests, at her insistence), she would occasionally join the tour group, casually dressed, her identity unknown, and correct the guides if she believed they had made a mistake.
Born in Remete, in Austria-Hungary, on Oct. 9, 1918, the Countess attended the Potomac School in Washington, Miss Faunce's School in London and the Chateau Brilliantmont in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1949, she married Count Anthony Szapary, a founder of the Hungarian National Sports Federation. Earlier, during World War II, he had been sent to a concentration camp for activities with the Hungarian Red Cross and his relief work for Polish and Jewish refugees. He was released through the intervention of King Gustav V of Sweden and came to the United States in 1947, becoming an adviser to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. He died in 1972.
The Countess is survived by a son, Paul, and a daughter, Gladys Szapary, both of Manhattan, and a sister, Countess Ferdinandine Eltz of Salzburg, Austria.
Countess Szapary was a former president of the Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport and was actively involved in the Newport Preservation Society. She was an organizer of the Newport Coaching weekends and aided several charities. She enjoyed both giving and going to parties and, as an avid amateur photographer, almost always had a small camera slung around her neck at the many social occasions in which she took part. She was known among her friends for the small albums of photographs that she often sent to other celebrators.
Countess Szapary was chairwoman of the 1995 centennial celebration of the Breakers, for which she created, in the stables of the estate, ''New York Central With the Vanderbilts,'' a small-scale version of the New York Central Lines, founded by Cornelius Vanderbilt. The model was created using her own trains and has become a favorite display for the younger guests of the house.
Creating an image that has endured among preservationists as well as family members, the Countess appeared at the opening, immediately before the family ball was to begin, clad in a T-shirt with a New York Central logo, an engineer's cap and a bandaged foot.
''She told me she had hurt it bungee jumping,'' said Alfred Vanderbilt Jr., a cousin.
--------------
Countess Szapary was proud of her descent from prominent 18th century Newporters Ebenezer and Mary Ward Flagg, and commissioned a book, on the remarkable Flagg portraits, now largely at the Redwood Library in Newport.
By ENID NEMY NEW YORK TIMES MARCH 3, 1998
Countess Anthony [Sylvia] Szapary, the doyenne of Newport society and the great-great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt who lived a good part of the year on the upper floors of the Breakers, maintaining the family's presence in the 70-room mansion built by her grandparents, died on Sunday at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. She was 79.
The Countess had suffered a stroke at her home in Pound Ridge, N.Y., her family said.
The former Sylvia Anita Gabriel Denise Irene Marie Szechenyi (pronounced sa-CHAIN-ee) was one of five daughters of Count Lazlo Szechenyi and Gladys Moore Vanderbilt Szechenyi. Her father was the first minister from Hungary to the United States and later served at the Court of St. James. Her mother was the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt 2d, who built the Breakers as the family's summer home.
The house, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and covering more than an acre of the 11-acre estate, was modeled after Renaissance palaces in Turin and Genoa, and was finished in 1895. The mansion, which, with furnishings costing $7 million, was one of the Gilded Age estates referred to by their owners at the time as cottages.
The Breakers was maintained as a private residence until 1947 when it was leased to the Preservation Society of Newport County for $1 a year. The maintenance and the taxes were paid by Countess Szechenyi until her death in 1965. The society bought the property in 1972, but Countess Szapary (pronounced sa-PAR-ee) continued to live in rooms on the third floor, and her devotion to the Breakers endured to the end of her life, officials of the society said yesterday. The original furnishings were not included in the sale of the property, but over the years Countess Szechenyi's descendants gave most of them to the society.
Countess Szapary, who was known as Syvie to her friends, was a lively woman with strong opinions, an impish sense of humor and an adventurous spirit. As a child, she used a large silver tray to toboggan down the impressive staircase at the Breakers, a tradition that younger members of the Vanderbilt family are said to have carried on. She also rode her bicycle at breakneck speed around the great hall, and during World War II, when the house was shuttered, she maintained, tongue in cheek, that she kept America safe through her volunteer work as a plane spotter on the roof of a boys school in Newport.
In her later years, after the Breakers was opened to tourists (who were always called guests, at her insistence), she would occasionally join the tour group, casually dressed, her identity unknown, and correct the guides if she believed they had made a mistake.
Born in Remete, in Austria-Hungary, on Oct. 9, 1918, the Countess attended the Potomac School in Washington, Miss Faunce's School in London and the Chateau Brilliantmont in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1949, she married Count Anthony Szapary, a founder of the Hungarian National Sports Federation. Earlier, during World War II, he had been sent to a concentration camp for activities with the Hungarian Red Cross and his relief work for Polish and Jewish refugees. He was released through the intervention of King Gustav V of Sweden and came to the United States in 1947, becoming an adviser to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. He died in 1972.
The Countess is survived by a son, Paul, and a daughter, Gladys Szapary, both of Manhattan, and a sister, Countess Ferdinandine Eltz of Salzburg, Austria.
Countess Szapary was a former president of the Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport and was actively involved in the Newport Preservation Society. She was an organizer of the Newport Coaching weekends and aided several charities. She enjoyed both giving and going to parties and, as an avid amateur photographer, almost always had a small camera slung around her neck at the many social occasions in which she took part. She was known among her friends for the small albums of photographs that she often sent to other celebrators.
Countess Szapary was chairwoman of the 1995 centennial celebration of the Breakers, for which she created, in the stables of the estate, ''New York Central With the Vanderbilts,'' a small-scale version of the New York Central Lines, founded by Cornelius Vanderbilt. The model was created using her own trains and has become a favorite display for the younger guests of the house.
Creating an image that has endured among preservationists as well as family members, the Countess appeared at the opening, immediately before the family ball was to begin, clad in a T-shirt with a New York Central logo, an engineer's cap and a bandaged foot.
''She told me she had hurt it bungee jumping,'' said Alfred Vanderbilt Jr., a cousin.
--------------
Countess Szapary was proud of her descent from prominent 18th century Newporters Ebenezer and Mary Ward Flagg, and commissioned a book, on the remarkable Flagg portraits, now largely at the Redwood Library in Newport.
