The Mdivani family (მდივანი) is a Georgian noble family with the rank of aznauri (gentry).
History
Outside of Georgia, the best known bearers of this name were the children of General Zakhari Mdivani (1867–1933), who served as the aide-de-camp to the Tsar of Russia,
[Daily Mirror, London, England, Saturday 6 February 1932, p.6] and his Georgian-Polish
wife, Elizabeth Viktorovna Sabalewska (1884–1922),
a socialite and close friend of
Rasputin.
The five siblings fled penniless to France and the US after the Soviet invasion of Georgia in 1921, and became known as the "
Marrying Mdivanis", as they all married into wealth and fame. They were a media staple of their time and are often regarded as pioneers of the modern concept of the "lifestyle celebrity."
Their phenomenon was analyzed by
Dale Carnegie in his landmark book How to Win Friends and Influence People,
with some calling it the "Mdivani Spell".
F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, referenced the Mdivani as a symbol of
celebrity at the time; food dishes
and fashion styles were named after them; and they even came up in a U.S. congressional hearing in 1935.
British biographer
Ralph Hewins, known for his works on J. Paul Getty, had planned to publish a biography of the Mdivani family based on decades of research, but family events ultimately halted the project.
The Mdivani siblings were:
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Nina Mdivani (1901–1987), was married to Charles Henry Huberich, a professor and lawyer, from 15 July 1925 until their divorce on 19 May 1936. On 18 August 1936, she married Denis Conan Doyle, a son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Together with the Conan-Doyle family, she helped manage the Sherlock Holmes estate until Denis's death in India on 9 March 1955, during a hunting trip at the invitation of the Maharaja of Mysore. She then married Harvard educated poet Anthony 'Tony' Harwood, who later served as a secretary to Denis Conan Doyle.
[ Tony was homosexual and served as a mentor (and possibly more) to the English artist and film maker Derek Jarman. Together, they would dress in drag and drape each other in Nina's many and fabulous jewels.][ Western Mail, Pandora's Box, 29 September 1938] Nina was close friends with Toto Koopman;
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Serge Mdivani (1903–1936), together with brother David were sent to the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, with the support of their father's close friend Marshall Crane
[ The Berkshire Eagle, 2 Aug 1935, p.6] of the Crane Currency paper empire. By 1923, the brothers worked in the Oklahoma oil fields owned by Edward L. Doheny. Serge later moved to Los Angeles[ The Daily Telegraph (London, United Kingdom), 4 Aug 1987, p. 14] After relocating to France to start a family away from Hollywood, Pola suffered a miscarriage.[ Arizona Daily Star, 5 May 1931, p.14] She notably remarked – "American men do not comprehend leisure because they are not versed, like the Mdivanis, in ways of spending it. Neither do they understand the art of spending in the grand manner...and in love-making, their technique was certainly unrivaled by any of the bloods of Southampton or Sands Point."[ My Prince Mdivani and I, Liberty Magazine, 7 Oct 1933, p. 8.] Regarding the next development, American journalist and author Alice-Leone Moats once observed: 'Though nothing the Mdivanis could do would have surprised me, this seemed such an outlandish development that I put it down to some columnist's overheated imagination.'.[ Serge Mdivani Is Killed Playing Polo in Florida, The New York Times, 16 March 1936] He is buried in the church yard of St. Columba's Episcopal Chapel in Middletown, Rhode Island under a massive marble tombstone.
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David Mdivani (1904–1984), was the first Mdivani to marry a Hollywood star. He came to the U.S. with his brother Serge to study at the Phillips Academy in Andover and later moved to New York where he was working for a radio repair shop owned by a fellow Georgian refugee Mr Loladze on Vesey Street in New York City. David also dabbled in acting, appearing in 1927 short film A Small Town Princess alongside Billy Bevan. In 1926 David married Hollywood superstar and pioneering female producer Mae Murray with Rudolph Valentino as his best man.
[ The Vancouver Sun, 15 Jun 1933, Page 16] They had a son, Koran David (1926–2018), whose existence remained a secret until Jim Mitchell of the Los Angeles Examiner received a tip from a friend. Rumours circulated about Koran's biological parents, as Mae was never seen pregnant in public. The couple divorced in 1933 in a highly publicized trial, mirroring the marital developments of his brother. He was subsequently involved in a series of high-profile relationships, including with actress Rose Davies, sister of Marion Davies, Argentine film actress Mona Maris, socialite Muriel (Johnson) "Honey" Berlin, and others. He had a long affair with French actress Arletty, who was rumored to have been pregnant by David in 1939.
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Isabelle Roussadana Mdivani (1906–1938), aka Roussie or Roussy. An accomplished sculptor, she was famous for making busts of celebrities, including US President Calvin Coolidge, Prince Henry of the Netherlands, ballet legend Serge Lifar,
[ Journal News, 17 April 1933, p.10] philanthropist William E. Harmon, Hollywood matinée idol Sessue Hayakawa, US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, American actress Kay Francis, Noe Zhordania and many others. She had three items accepted at the most important art event in Europe, the Spring Salon of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of 17 and designed the Lafayette Escadrille aviation trophy.
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Alexis Mdivani (1908–1935) aka Alec, the youngest of the siblings, received a private education in England with the support of his sister Nina. His first reputed sexual encounter was with French superstar Mistinguett at the age of fourteen, followed by affairs with American actress Kay Francis, African-American dancer Louise Cook (known as "Snake Hips"), socialite Evelyn Clark, and a romance-turned-friendship with bi-racial, bi-sexual Vogue cover model and later spy Toto Koopman.
[ The Polo Monthly (August 1935), Death of Prince Alexis Mdivani, p. 13] He was deeply involved in Georgia related charitable causes, sponsoring numerous initiatives worldwide, and was even considered to lead the Georgian and White movement émigré movement aimed at toppling the communist regime in the Soviet Union[ "Baroness Maud von Thyssen is injured in accident with Prince Alexis Mdivani, Berlin, 1935", UCLA Library Digital Collections, Los Angeles Times, August 1935.]
In late feudal Georgian the word "mdivani" meant "an official" such as one who attends court and participates in the consideration of a case.
Notable members
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Marina Mdivani, Soviet and Canadian virtuoso pianist of Georgian descent
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Polikarp Mdivani, Georgian Bolshevik and Soviet government official
External links
