Serge Obolensky

Background

Obolensky was the son of Prince Platon Sergeyevich Obolensky-Neledinsky-Meletzky (1850-1913) and Maria Konstantinovna Naryshkina (1861-1929).

Career

He served as vice chairman of the board of directors of the Hilton Hotels Corporation. He had a younger brother, Vladimir (1896-1968), who died unmarried and childless. He fled his native country after battling Bolsheviks as a guerrilla fighter.

Ava was the daughter of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing.

Obolensky was a soldier in two World Wars and in the Russian Civil War. In 1949, he started his own public relations firm in New York City, handling accounts like Piper-Heidsieck champagne.

"Serge", a friend once remarked, "could be successful selling umbrellas in the middle of the Sahara". In 1958, Obolensky was made Vice Chairman of the Board of Hilton Hotels Corporation.

He maintained a substantial art collection.

Obolensky died in 1978, and is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield, Michigan. Obolensky had two children with Ava:

Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky (born 1925), financial analyst and corporate officer (The Prince was a direct descendant in male line of Genghis Khan and Börte through Jochi and the Khans of Crimea)

The "Serge Obolensky Room", at the back of the 1st floor at the Soldiers", Sailors", Marines", Coast Guard and Airmen"s Club in Manhattan, memorializes his services as a soldier.

Portraits and memorabilia festoon the walls.

Membership

He was a lieutenant colonel in the United States. paratroopers and a member of the Office of Strategic Services (Office of Strategic Services), forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, and made his first five jumps in 1943 at the age of 53.

Personality

He was an enthusiastic polo player and played for his University Team 1914 in Oxford.

Connections

brother-in-law:

Vincent Astor