- Wendy Russell Reves
Wendy Russell Reves (
2 May 1916 -13 March 2007 Granberry, Michael. [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/031407dnmetrevesobit.d30ea5b.html Arts patron, socialite Wendy Reves dies: Gifts included large donation to Dallas Museum of Art] , "The Dallas Morning News", March 13, 2007] ) was an Americanphilanthropist ,socialite , and formerfashion model .Early life and career
She was born Wyn-Nelle Russell in
Marshall, Texas , and adopted the name Wendy as an adult.Her modeling career began in 1939, and she appeared in "
Harper's Bazaar " and "Vogue". Virginia Pope, the fashion critic of "The New York Times ", described her as "one of New York's most-seen manikins [sic] .""Little Shop Show Marked By Color", "The New York Times ",26 September 1946 , page 28.]=Marriages=
Al Schroeder
Wendy's first husband, Al Schroeder, was a
West Point graduate she met when he was stationed inRandolph Field inSan Antonio, Texas . Wendy was barely sixteen when they discussed marriage, but was persuaded by her mother to wait until her seventeenth birthday to marry. One year later they had a son, Arnold Leon Schroeder. [http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/View/Collections/Reves/index.htm The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art] ] [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-revesobit_14met.ART.State.Edition1.44747ee.html]Paul Baron
In 1940, she married Paul Baron (b. 1911), a pianist and conductor who was the leader of the Paul Baron Orchestra, a well-known studio band of the 1930s and 1940s. He was a vocal arranger for
Fifi D'Orsay ,Nanette Fabray ,Jane Froman ,Elvira Rios ,Mildred Bailey , andLupe Velez and was co-writer of the popular song "Rum and Cola Cola ", which was performed by, among others,The Andrews Sisters .Emery Reves
From 1948, she was the mistress of
Emery Reves (né Emery Revesz, 1904 - 1981), a Hungarian-born writer, publisher, financier, art collector, founder of the anti-fascist Cooperation Press Service , and advocate ofworld federalism . The couple married in 1964 in Thonex, Switzerland. [http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/View/Collections/Reves/index.htm The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art] ]A first cousin of the conductor Sir
Georg Solti and a literary agent for and close friend ofWinston S. Churchill , Emery Reves described his wife as "a woman with a brilliant mind and imagination, tempered by much common sense. She is a woman who never bored me". In 1953, the couple bought La Pausa, a villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which had been built forCoco Chanel by theDuke of Westminster .=Philanthropy=Following her husband's 1981 death, Reves chose to devote her energies to charitable endeavors. Among her philanthropies is the establishment of the Wendy and Emery Reves wing of the
Dallas Museum of Art in 1985 (a 15,000-square-foot recreation of six rooms of the Reveses' villa), which displays the Reves' extensive art collection as it was originally displayed at their villa, and the Wendy and Emery Reves Center for International Studies at theCollege of William & Mary (established with a $3 million grant). She also donated $25,000 to begin the Wonderland of Lights which has become one of the largest light festivals in theUnited States . She was instrumental in convincingJanine Michelson , the widow ofLeo Michelson , to found theMichelson Museum of Art in Marshall to house the Russian American's art collection.Other philanthropic gifts included a $2 million endowment to the
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation andUT Southwestern Medical Center establishing an internationalbreast cancer symposium and a diagnostic and treatment center.An additional $2 million went to the
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center , which features an entry arch named for Emery Reves.Granberry, Michael. [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/031407dnmetrevesobit.d30ea5b.html Arts patron, socialite Wendy Reves dies: Gifts included large donation to Dallas Museum of Art] ]=Death=Reves died on
March 13 2007 , aged 90, at a hospital near her villa in France.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.