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Mdivani

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The Mdivani (Georgian: მდივანი) is a Georgian family. In the West, the best known bearers of this name were the children of General Zakhari Mdivani (1867—1933) and his wife, Elizabeth Viktorovna Sabalewska (1884—1922).[1] The five siblings fled to Paris after the Soviet invasion of Georgia in 1921, and became known as the "Marrying Mdivanis", as they all married into wealth and fame.

The Mdivani siblings were:

  • David Mdivani (1904–1984), was the first Mdivani to marry "well". He came to the U.S. with his brother Serge under the support of Marshall Crane. When the two brothers fell out of favor with Marshall Crane, they moved to New York where David was working for a radio repair shop owned by a fellow Georgian refugee on Vesey Street in New York City. David also dabbled in acting, but failed. The brothers moved to Oklahoma where David and Serge worked in the Edward L. Doheny oil fields earning until 1926, months before David married actress Mae Murray;[4] they had a son, Koran David (1926-2018). After he bankrupted her, she divorced him in 1933, and they became involved in a custody battle over their child. He was involved with French actress Arletty. David then married Sinclair Oil heiress Virginia Sinclair (daughter of Harry Ford Sinclair) in 1944, and they had a son, Michael (1945–1990).
  • Isabelle Roussadana Mdivani (1906–1938), aka Roussie or Roussy. A sculptor, she married the Spanish painter Josep Maria Sert in 1928.

The word Mdivani in Georgian means An official Person in late feudal Georgia, attended the court session and participated in the consideration of the case..

Notable members

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References

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  1. ^ a b Philip G. Bergem (2001). The Family and Residences of Arthur Conan Doyle. St. Paul, Minnesota: Privately printed. pp. 4, 11.
  2. ^ Moats, Alice-Leone (1977). The Million Dollar Studs (1st ed.). New York: Delacorte Press. p. 13.
  3. ^ Serge Mdivani Is Killed Playing Polo in Florida, The New York Times, 16 March 1936
  4. ^ Moats, Alice-Leone (1977). The Million Dollar Studs (1st ed.). New York: Delacorte Press. p. 15.
  5. ^ "Baroness Maud von Thyssen is injured in accident with Prince Alexis Mdivani, Berlin, 1935", UCLA Library Digital Collections, Los Angeles Times, August 1935.
  6. ^ Moats, Alice-Leone (1977). The Million Dollar Studs (1st ed.). New York: Delacorte Press. p. 126.
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