Mona Bismarck Married an American Tycoon, a Count—and Then the Count’s Doctor

Hey guys! We're now on Spotify 🎧 Join us here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cvs0yj... Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1897, the daughter of a horse trainer, Mona Strader married five times in 54 years. Her third husband, Harrison Williams, had a fortune estimated at $680 million in 1929 and named two investment trusts in her honor, and in 1933 the Paris couturiers made her the first American named the best-dressed woman in the world. In 1955 she married Count Eddie von Bismarck, a grandson of Otto von Bismarck. On November 6, 1971, in Geneva, she married the doctor who had looked after Eddie. She was 74. Within eight years he was dead in a car that went off a bridge near Naples, and by one account she found out about $3 million he had put in a Swiss bank. Subscribe to the channel: @velvetsociety-s7l In this video, we talk about the five marriages of Mona Bismarck, including her childhood in Kentucky horse country, the Milwaukee heir and the son she left in his custody, the banker called the handsomest man in America, the 1926 marriage to Harrison Williams and the world cruise on the Warrior, the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge trusts and the 1929 crash, the best-dressed title, Cecil Beaton and Cole Porter, the Dalí portrait, Il Fortino on Capri, thirty years of Balenciaga and the three days after he closed, the marriage to Count Eddie von Bismarck, the house on the avenue de New York, Umberto de Martini and the crash near Naples, and what became of her fortune and her name. 🔔 Subscribe so the next heiress with a complicated marriage record finds you. 💬 Comment where you're watching from, and tell me which of Mona's five husbands you think she truly loved. 📢 Share this with a friend who loves Gilded Age society, on Facebook, Reddit or in the family group chat. You are the reason this channel keeps going. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 01:16 The Trainer's Daughter on Another Man's Farm 14:46 The Handsomest Man in America Was Not Enough 21:24 The Richest Man in America Was a Bicycle Salesman 37:56 The Best Dressed Woman in the World 45:55 A Fort on Capri and a Friend Called Eddie 1:01:20 A Countess by Way of New Jersey 1:08:58 Paris Winters, Capri Summers, and a Disagreeable Air 1:23:23 The Doctor at the Bedside 1:29:27 Martini on the Rocks 1:42:57 A Givenchy Gown Between Two Husbands 1:49:11 What the Magnolias Cost Sources: The Filson Historical Society, Mona Strader Bismarck Collection https://web.archive.org/web/201109271... National Gallery of Art, Mona Bismarck provenance biography https://web.archive.org/web/202503300... Victoria and Albert Museum, Balenciaga evening dress, 1968 https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1... TIME, Southern Beauties, April 24, 1933 https://content.time.com/time/subscri... Kentucky Living, Magnificent Mona Bismarck: Kentucky Style Icon https://www.kentuckyliving.com/news/m... Sotheby's, Remembering the Magnificent Mona Bismarck https://www.sothebys.com/en/slideshow... American Center for Art & Culture, press release, December 12, 2022 https://americancenterparis.org/1_ENG... DISCLAIMER: This video is based on real historical events and figures, drawn from the sources listed above alongside primary archives, biographies, court records, period press, and leading historical scholarship. While every video is heavily researched, occasional minor inaccuracies in dates, quotes, or specific details may occur — historical sources sometimes disagree, and interpretation is sometimes required where the historical record is silent. Any errors are unintentional. #MonaBismarck #Capri #VelvetSociety