Robert Edward Simon Jr. (April 10, 1914 – September 21, 2015) was an American real estate entrepreneur, most known for founding the community of

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and a principal city of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Rest ...

. Original work: He was the maternal uncle of feminist historian and writer

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Elizabeth Ann Fox-Genovese ( Fox; May 28, 1941 – January 2, 2007) was an American historian best known for her works on women and society in the Antebellum South. A Marxist early on in her career, she later converted to Roman Catholicism and ...

Early life

Simon was born in New York City in 1914, the son of Robert Sr. and Elsa Weil Simon, immigrants from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He was raised 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 ...

along with his four siblings. He was of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent.

Career

Reston

After graduating from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, Simon took over the family real estate management and development business. In 1961, with the proceeds from the sale of a family property,

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, Simon purchased 6,750 acres (27 km²) of land in

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

and hired Conklin + Rossant to develop a master plan for the new town of

, a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

well known on the national level. (The town's name was derived from Simon's initials and the word "town".) Simon's

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

concept emphasized quality of life for the individual and provided a community where people could live, work, and play without driving long distances. Simon returned to live in an apartment near

Lake Anne Lake Anne is a reservoir in the unincorporated suburban community of Reston in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The lake is part of the Difficult Run drainage area of the county. Description Lake Anne is one of Reston's four man-ma ...

in Reston in 1993 and helped celebrate Reston's 40th birthday in 2004. In that same year a

bronze statue Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloids (su ...

of Simon was placed on a park bench in Washington Plaza on Lake Anne, the original heart of the community he built. A collection of Simon's donated materials is housed at the Special Collections Research Center at the George Mason University Libraries.

Personal life

Simon married four times. He was married to author and environmentalist Anne Wertheim Langman, daughter of

Maurice Wertheim Maurice Wertheim (February 16, 1886 – May 27, 1950) was an American investment banker, chess player and patron, art collector, environmentalist, and philanthropist. In 1927 he founded Wertheim & Co. Life Born to a Jewish family, the son of ...

, and granddaughter of Henry Morgenthau Sr. He died in

in September 2015 at the age of 101. He was survived by his fourth wife (married 2004), Cheryl Terio-Simon; a daughter, Margo Prescott-Morris her 2 children (Robert's grandchildren) Christine Doolin, Noah Prescott along with great-grandchildren Sara Collier, Austin Ingram, Ashton Prescott and 8 great-great grandchildren. Also his six stepchildren, Karen Terio, Betsy Langman Schulberg (married and divorced from

Budd Schulberg Budd Schulberg (born Seymour Wilson Schulberg; March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009) was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his novels '' What Makes Sammy Run?'' (1941) and ''The Harder They ...

), Deborah Langman Lesser, Lucinda Zilk, Tom Langman, and Adam Terio.

References

External links

A Brief History of Reston, Virginia

James Rossant
master planner of Reston {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Robert E. 1914 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American men centenarians American people of German-Jewish descent American urban planners Businesspeople from New York City Harvard University alumni People from Reston, Virginia Reston, Virginia American businesspeople in real estate Wertheim family Morgenthau family Jewish centenarians