Background
He was a son of Count Imre Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék, who was one time Austrian Minister at the Court of Berlin, and countess Alexandra Sztaray-Szirmay et Nagy-Mihály.
He was a son of Count Imre Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék, who was one time Austrian Minister at the Court of Berlin, and countess Alexandra Sztaray-Szirmay et Nagy-Mihály.
Count László was twenty-eight years old, when he met Gladys Vanderbilt. He was the youngest of four brothers. The eldest, Count Dionys, who was Minister Plenipotentiary and Councilor of the Austrian Embassy at Paris.
The other brothers, Peter and István, were unmarried.
All of the brothers were Reserve Lieutenants in the Imperial Hussars as well as Chamberlains at the Court. Count László Széchenyi was the inventor of the submarine wireless telegraphy, for sending and receiving sound-wave vibrations underwater, and started the Submarine Wireless Company to produce lieutenant
Children of Count László Széchenyi and Gladys Moore Vanderbilt:
Cornelia Széchenyi (1908–1958) (married Eugene B. Roberts (1898–1983) of Bowie, Maryland, and had three children, Gladys, Cornelia and Eugene)
Alice Széchenyi (1911–1974) (married Hungarian Count Béla Hadik (1905–1971) and had two sons, László and János)
Gladys Széchenyi (1913–1978) (married the English Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham (1935–1946)), and had two sons, Stormont (born 1936) and Robin (born 1939)) divorced. In 1954 married Arthur Talbot Peterson (1905–1962)
Sylvia Széchenyi (1918–1998) (married Hungarian Count Antal Szapáry (1905–1972), and had two children, Pál and Gladys)
Ferdinandine Széchenyi (born 1923) (married the Austrian Count Alexander zu Eltz (1911–1977) and had two sons, Peter and Nicholas)
He possessed two great estates in Hungary, Oermezo Castle, which is about three hundred years old and 4,000 acres, in the County of Templen, and Lagoshara Pusbla, a Summer place, about 4,300 acres, in the County of Somogy.
The Count, besides, also owned a one-story, ten room house at 14 Eotvoss-street in Budapest.
Shortly before the War, Count László Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék tried to become a financial Napoléon in Hungary and met his Waterloo very quickly. They failed to calculate the impact of the World War, and suffered a complete smash as a result of the fall in value of their shares. Count László Széchenyi presented his credentials as Hungary’s first Minister to the United States on January 11, 1922.
He served until March 31, 1933.
He was transferred to the same post at the Court of Saint James in England in 1933. Count László Szécheny died in Hungary in 1938.
By 1908, Count László Széchenyi de Sárvár-felsővidék was the most prominent member of his family, which was quite numerous. He was a member of the ‘Magnates Group’ which speculated in mines, railroads and other enterprises.