Cathleen Vanderbilt Arostegui (January 23, 1904 – January 25, 1944) was an American heiress and member of the

Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanth ...

Early life

Cathleen was born on January 23, 1904, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She was the only child of

Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (January 14, 1880 – September 4, 1925) was a member of the Vanderbilt family. He was the father of Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandfather of Anderson Cooper. An avid equestrian, Vanderbilt was the founder and pr ...

(1880–1925) and his first wife, Cathleen (née Neilson; 1885–1927). Her father had a country home known as Sandy Point Farm in

Portsmouth, Rhode Island Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,871 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census. Portsmouth is the second-oldest municipality in Rhode Island, after Providence Plantations, Provide ...

. Before her parents' eventual divorce in 1920, they separated and she continued to live with her mother. After the divorce, her mother remarried to Sidney Jones Colford Jr. in 1921, and her father remarried to Gloria Morgan, with whom he had one more daughter,

Gloria Vanderbilt Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (February 20, 1924 – June 17, 2019) was an American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite. During the 1930s, she was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother, ...

. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick Neilson and Isabelle Gebhard Neilson. Her paternal grandparents were

Cornelius Vanderbilt II Cornelius "Corneil" Vanderbilt II (November 27, 1843 – September 12, 1899) was an American socialite and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family. Noted forebears He was the favorite grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbil ...

and

Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt (; November 11, 1845 – April 24, 1934) was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and reigned as the matriarch of the Vanderbilt family for over 60 years. Early life and relatives Alice Claypoole Gwynne was born on Nove ...

. Among her large family was uncle

Cornelius Vanderbilt III Brigadier General Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III (September 5, 1873 – March 1, 1942) was an American military officer, inventor, engineer, and yachtsman. He was a member of the Vanderbilt family. Early life Born in New York City to Corneliu ...

, aunt

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (January 9, 1875 – April 18, 1942) was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, ...

, who married

Harry Payne Whitney Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeding, horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family. Early years Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as ...

and founded the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, uncle

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Sr. (October 20, 1877 – May 7, 1915) was an American businessman and member of the Vanderbilt family. A sportsman, he participated in and pioneered a number of related endeavors. He died in the sinking of the RMS Lus ...

, who died on the , and aunt

Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi Gladys Moore Vanderbilt, Countess Széchenyi (August 27, 1886 – January 29, 1965), was an American heiress from the Vanderbilt family and wife of Hungarian Count László Széchenyi. She was an owner of the Breakers, the grandest residenc ...

, who married Count

László Széchenyi Count László Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék (18 February 1879 – 5 July 1938) was an Austro Hungarian military officer, Imperial Chamberlain, diplomat and venture capitalist. His great-uncle was Count István Széchenyi. László Széche ...

. After her father's death in September 1925, Cathleen and her half-sister Gloria inherited the bulk of their father's estate, including a $5,000,000 trust established by Reginald's father, Cornelius II, in 1899.

Personal life

In 1923, Cathleen was married to Henry "Harry" Cooke Cushing III (1895–1960) in the Italian Gardens of the Ambassador Hotel. Harry was the son of Harry Cooke Cushing Jr. and Adelaide Blanche Cohnfeld, and the nephew of illustrator Otho Cushing. Before their divorce in 1932, they lived at 26 East 96th Street and were the parents of Henry Cooke Cushing IV (1924–2000), a polo player and investor who was married to Georgia Walters "Georgette Windsor" (born 1924), Ruth Swift Dunbar (1932–2010),

Rosalba Neri Rosalba Neri (born 19 June 1938) is a retired Italian actress. Early life Born in Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Neri was regarded for her beauty even in youth, winning a beauty pageant when she was still young. Eventually pursuing an acting ...

(born 1938), and Laura Alvarez. In August 1932, ten days after her divorce from Cushing, she married

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

radio executive Lawrence Wise Lowman (1900–1980) at the court house in Hempstead,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. After their marriage, Lowman, a son of David and Amalia Lowman, made their home in New York City. Cathleen obtained a divorce from Lowman on June 7, 1940, in the Cuban courts. On October 9, 1940, she married for the third and final time to Antonio Martin Arostegui (1911–1986), the publisher of ''PM'', the only English afternoon newspaper in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. After a two month illness, Cathleen died at the Anglo-American Hospital in the

Vedado Vedado (, ) is a central business district and urban neighborhood in the city of Havana, Cuba. Bordered on the east by Calzada de Infanta and Centro Habana, Cuba, Central Havana, and on the west by the Alemendares River and Miramar, Havana, Mir ...

district of Havana on January 25, 1944, two days after her 40th birthday. She was buried in the Aurelia Castillo family vault at

Colon Cemetery, Havana El Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón (English: the Christopher Columbus Cemetery), also called La Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón, was founded in 1876 in the Vedado neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba, to replace the Espada Cemetery in the Barrio de S ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanderbilt, Cathleen 1904 births 1944 deaths

Cathleen Cathleen is a feminine given name in the English language. It is a variant form of '' Kathleen''. Notable people with the name include: * Cathleen Chaffee, American curator, art historian, writer * Cathleen Falsani, American journalist and writer ...