Prince Ferdinand Aloys Andreas Joseph Anton Maria of Liechtenstein (18 January 1901 – 7 July 1981) was a Prince of the

House of Liechtenstein The House of Liechtenstein (), from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by hereditary right over the principality of Liechtenstein. Only Dynasty#Dynast, dynastic members of the family are eligible to inherit the thro ...

and nephew of

Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein Franz I (Franz de Paula Maria Karl August; 28 August 1853 – 25 July 1938) was Prince of Liechtenstein from 11 February 1929 until his death in 1938. Early life Franz de Paula Maria Karl August was born on 28 August 1853, to Aloys II and h ...

and cousin of

Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein Franz Joseph II (Franz Josef Maria Alois Alfred Karl Johannes Heinrich Michael Georg Ignaz Benediktus Gerhardus Majella; 16 August 1906 – 13 November 1989) was the reigning Monarchy of Liechtenstein, Prince of Liechtenstein from 25 July 1938 u ...

. Prince Ferdinand was an internationally known banker, athlete and big game hunter.

Early life

He was the second son of Prince Eduard Viktor Maria (1872–1951) and the former Olga,

Gräfin (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

von Pückler und Limpurg (1873–1966). His brother, Prince Johannes, married an American and moved to a ranch near

Weatherford, Texas Weatherford () is a city in and the county seat of Parker County, Texas, United States. In 2020, its population was 30,854. Weatherford is named after Thomas J. Weatherford, a State senator and advocate for Texas's secession to the Confederate ...

. His paternal grandparents were Prince Eduard Franz (a son of Johann I Joseph and

Landgravine Josepha of Fürstenberg-Weitra Landgravine Josepha of Fürstenberg-Weitra (; 21 June 177623 February 1848) was Princess of Liechtenstein, princess consort of Liechtenstein as wife of Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein, Johann I Joseph, List of princes of Liechtenstein, ...

) and the former Honoria Hrabina Choloniowa-Choloniewska.

Career

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, he was a captain of the Austrian Olympic team that competed in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He shared a bungalow with a butcher, a policeman, and a chauffeur, all members of the team. Later that year, he qualified as a parachutist. In 1935, thirty-four year old Prince Ferdinand left

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

for

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

to offer his services to

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

, the Emperor of Abyssinia (modern day

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

). In 1939, Prince Ferdinand try to join Finnish army. Finnish official knew that he was German spy (Finland was in war against German ally Russia) and rejected him at the medical examination. When he was sent out of Finland he made fake news article about him fighting in Finnish army as one of the first foreign volunteers in unit called "ghost patrol" what didn't exist In 1943, he was falsely reported to have been murdered by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

in Austria. The alleged murder, reported by his aunt, was apparently in revenge for Prince Ferdinand's help in saving fortunes of friends in Vienna. When the Nazis moved into

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

, he helped his friends deposit their funds in Swiss banks, a move which the Germans charged, was instrumental in the decline in the value of the

mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

Personal life

Prince Ferdinand was married four times and had issue with his first two wives. He

morganatically Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spouse ...

married firstly Shelagh Salome Houston Brunner (1900–1983) in London on 14 January 1925, in what was reportedly the first marriage of a member of the House of Liechtenstein history and a commoner. Shelagh was the daughter of Roscoe Brunner, chairman of

Brunner Mond Brunner may refer to: Places * Brunner, New Zealand * Lake Brunner, New Zealand * Brunner Mine, New Zealand * Brunner, Houston, United States * Brunner (crater), lunar crater Other uses * Brunner (surname) * Brunner the Bounty Hunter, a cha ...

, and granddaughter of

Sir John Brunner, 1st Baronet Sir John Tomlinson Brunner, 1st Baronet, (8 February 1842 – 1 July 1919) was a British chemical industrialist and Liberal Party politician. At Hutchinson's alkali works in Widnes he rose to the position of general manager. There he met Lud ...

. A little more than a year after their marriage, her father killed her mother in a murder-suicide at Green Cottage,

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, sharing its SW15 postcode with neighbouring Putney and Kingston Vale, and takes up a far western strip, running north to south, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large counc ...

, the London home of the Liechtensteins. After their divorce, she was created ''Gräfin von Rietberg'' on 5 December 1951. Together, they were the parents of:Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Vol. 1, p. 556. * Christopher Richard Francis,

Graf (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

von Rietberg (1926–2005), who married Kathleen Hamilton Mahan in 1955, a daughter of

Alfred Thayer Mahan Alfred Thayer Mahan (; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was a United States Navy officer and historian whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His 1890 book '' The Influence of Sea Pow ...

of New York City. * Ethel ''Elisabeth'' Olga Mary, Gräfin von Rietberg (1928–1999), who married Klaus Bruno von Brehm in 1953. They divorced in 1961 and she married Richard Douglas Loftus Onslow in 1968. While in Los Angeles for the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

, he met actress

Ina Claire Ina Claire (born Ina Fagan; October 15, 1893February 21, 1985) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Ina Fagan was born October 15, 1893, in Washington, D.C. After the death of her father, Claire began doing imitations of fellow b ...

. In 1934, Ferdinand and Ina bought tickets for the Italian ocean liner ''

Vulcania Vulcania, the "European Park of Volcanism", is an educational French amusement park and museum with a volcano theme. Situated in Saint-Ours-les-Roches, Auvergne, 15 km north-west of Clermont-Ferrand, it was officially inaugurated in 2002. ...

'' bound for

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

. His second marriage was to Brita Christina Nordenskiöld (1919–1971) in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

on 7 September 1940. Brita was the daughter of Bengt Nordenskiöld and Dagmar Werner. Before divorced, they were the parents of: * Johannes (''Hanno'') Eduard Bengt Henrik Andreas Maria, Graf von Rietberg (1941–2003), who married Kerstin Lundberg, the daughter of Carl Gustaf Lennart Lundberg, Commanding General of the Royal

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

, and Tyra Elisabet Felldin in 1968. They were created Prinz und Prinzessin von und zu Liechtenstein on 11 May 1974. On 21 August 1950, he married for the third time to Dorothy (née Haydel) Oelrichs (1893–1961), in East Hampton,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Dorothy, a daughter of Harry Haydel of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, was the widow of Hermann Oelrichs Jr. (the only child of Hermann Oelrichs and

Theresa Fair Oelrichs Theresa Alice "Tessie" Fair (June 30, 1871 – November 22, 1926) was an American socialite. She went from being the daughter of a hard-scrabble California miner to become heiress to a fortune in Comstock Lode gold and silver, the wife of steams ...

). She died

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, on 11 April 1961. On 19 December 1968, he was married in

Sucy-en-Brie Sucy-en-Brie (, literally ''Sucy in Brie (region), Brie'') is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Population Transport Sucy-en-Brie is served by S ...

for the fourth and final time to Nadine Georgette Maria (née Ansay) Alexandre (1916–2003). Nadine, the former wife of Pierre Alexandre and daughter of Hubert Ansay and Lucienne Legrand, was created Prinzessin von und zu

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

on 31 June 1975. Prince Ferdinand died on 7 July 1981 in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

after a traffic accident. His widow, Prinzessin von und zu Liechtenstein, died in

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

on 5 November 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferdinand of Liechtenstein, Prince Liechtenstein princes 1901 births 1981 deaths Olympic athletes for Austria