Catherine Murray di Montezemolo (''née'' Catherine Bradley Murray; September 18, 1925 – April 22, 2009) was an American

fashion editor A fashion editor is a person that supervises the process of creating, developing and presenting content for the fashion department of a magazine, Web site, newspaper or television program. The work of a fashion editor can be quite varied and may h ...

with a prominent position in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

society. Di Montezemolo was born to a wealthy family — her grandfather was the prolific inventor and engineer,

Thomas E. Murray Thomas E. Murray (October 21, 1860 – July 21, 1929) was an American inventor and businessman who developed Power station, electric power plants for New York City as well as many electrical devices which influenced life around the world, includ ...

, who together with

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

helped to found the NY-based utility, Con Edison, in the early twentieth century. The Murray family was the main subject of

Stephen Birmingham Stephen Gardner Birmingham (May 28, 1929 – November 15, 2015) was an American author known for his social histories of wealthy American families, often focusing on ethnicity — Jews (his "Jewish trilogy": ''Our Crowd'', ''The Grandees'', '' ...

's book ''Real Lace: America's Irish Rich'' and John Corry's ''

Golden Clan ''Golden Clan'' is a non-fiction account of the Murray/ Mc Donnell family of New York, by John Corry, ''Golden Clan: The Murrays, the McDonnells, & the Irish American Aristocracy'', Houghton Mifflin Co.; Boston, 1977. This followed an earlier boo ...

: The Murrays, the McDonnells, & the Irish American Aristocracy''. Di Montezemelo attended

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

school in Suffern, New York. After graduation, she took a job at ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'', where she worked for 30 years. She advised and promoted the work of young designers such as

Anne Fogarty Anne Fogarty (February 2, 1919 – January 15, 1980) was an American fashion designer, active 1940–1980, who was noted for her understated, ladylike designs that were accessible to American women on a limited income.Claire McCardell Claire McCardell (May 24, 1905 – March 22, 1958) was an American fashion designer of ready-to-wear clothing in the twentieth century. She has been credited with the creation of American sportswear. Early life McCardell was the eldest of four ...

. Athletic, she was an early student of

Joseph Pilates Joseph Hubertus Pilates (9 December 1883 – 9 October 1967) was a German physical trainer, writer, and inventor. He is credited with inventing and promoting the Pilates method of physical fitness. He patented a total of 26 apparatuses in hi ...

. In 1945, her eldest sister Jeanne Lourdes Murray (1919–2013) married the American billionaire Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. In 1958, she married an Italian nobleman, Alessandro di Montezemolo ('' Nobile'' of the '' Marchesi'' di Montezemolo), who was a senior executive at

Marsh & McLennan Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., doing business as Marsh McLennan, is a global professional services firm, headquartered in New York City with businesses in insurance brokerage, risk management, reinsurance services, talent management, invest ...

. In 1961, her other elder sister Patricia Roche Murray (1920–2018) married the American tennis champion Sidney Wood and one year after his death, in 2010, the former U.S. Ambassador Edward N. Ney. Catherine di Montezemolo and her husband became fixtures in the

, where she spent her summers as a child on a vast beachfront property along Wickapogue Road that came to be known as the "Murray Compound" because so many family members built houses near one another. Until the 1970s, the only residents of the plot were the Murrays and their cousins, the McDonnells. She left Vogue in the late 1970s. Later, she designed her own fashion collection and was active in Southampton charity activity. Di Montezemolo died at age 83 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

References

1925 births 2009 deaths Italian nobility American fashion designers American magazine editors American people of Irish descent Catholics from New York (state) Fashion editors

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

Vogue (magazine) editors {{fashion-bio-stub