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So long a man imagines that he cannot do this or that, so long it is impossible to him. Baruch Spinoza |
Alexis Dieter Rudolf Oscar von Rosenberg, 3rd Baron de Redé (4 February 1922 – 8 July 2004) was a prominent aristocratic aesthete, collector of French 18th-century furnishings and decorative arts, and socialite both in European circles and in New York. It was not generally realized that he was writing his memoirs. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1972.
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He was born as Alexis Dieter Rudolf Oscar von Rosenberg in Zürich, Switzerland, and was the son and youngest child of Oscar Adolphe von Rosenberg, a Jewish banker from Austria-Hungary. Alexis de Redé's father became a citizen of Liechtenstein and was given the title of Baron de Redé by the Emperor of Austria in 1916. Oscar von Rosenberg later committed suicide. Alexis's mother was descended from the von Kaullas, an ennobled German-Jewish family, who had been part owners of the Bank of Württemberg with the kings of that country. Redé and his brother Hubert von Rosenberg (1919–1942) were educated at Le Rosey in Switzerland. They also had a sister, Marion, born in 1916. Following his father's suicide in 1939, he set off alone for New York. In 1946 he returned to Paris, in the entourage of Elsie de Wolfe, who was now Lady Mendl.
The Baron de Redé was a committed aesthete. In 1949, he moved into the ground floor of the 17th century Hôtel Lambert on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris and restored the building and its décor. In 2003, he was appointed a commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, for his restoration of the Hôtel Lambert.
Redé's notoriety rested on being the best-kept man in Paris: his wealth derived from his lover Arturo Lopez-Willshaw (1900–62), who continued to maintain a formal residence with his wife in Neuilly. The Hôtel Lambert dinner parties were at the center of le tout Paris. Philippe Jullian described the world of Lopez-Willshaw and Redé as like a small 18th-century court: Members of the circle included the poet and patron of the Surrealists, Marie-Laure de Noailles (1902–70); such musicians as Henri Sauguet, Georges Auric, and Francis Poulenc; and the artist Christian Berard. Important influences were the interior decorators Georges Geffroy and Victor Grandpierre. Cecil Beaton photographed Nina Ricci's costumes for "the elegant aesthete" at the sensational 1951 Bal oriental given by his friend Carlos de Beistegui at his Venetian palace, the Palazzo Labia.
Redé had met Lopez-Wilshaw in a New York City restaurant. Lopez-Wilshaw was married to his own cousin, Patricia (née Lopez-Huici). He offered to take Redé to Paris, where he had a house in Neuilly. "I was not in love," Redé recalled, "but I needed protection, and I was aware that he could provide this." Patricia Lopez-Willshaw (1912–2010) was cool to Redé. In 1962, Redé inherited half of Lopez-Wilshaw's fortune; and, to manage it. he joined Prince Rupert zu Loewenstein in taking control of Leopold Joseph & Sons, a bank where he served as Deputy Chairman. With Loewenstein, he was closely involved in managing the money of the Rolling Stones; and he was a founder of Artemis, an investment fund specializing in the purchase of fine art.
In 1956, at Alexis de Redé's Bal des Têtes, young Yves Saint-Laurent provided many of the headdresses—the Duchess of Windsor being one of the judges—and received a boost to his career. When Diana Vreeland heard of the plans for Redé's upcoming Bal oriental, to be given on 5 December 1969, she promptly contacted the Baron expressing her interest in having the event photographed by Vogue. The guest list was the "creme de la creme" of the International High Society including;
In 1972 Redé had his portrait painted by the fashionable painter Anthony Christian. In 1975 the Hôtel Lambert was purchased by Baron Guy de Rothschild, whose wife, Marie-Hélène de Rothschild was a close friend of Redé, who inherited her beloved dachshund "Whiskey"; the Rothschilds henceforth used it as their Paris residence.
He was described as "the Eugene de Rastignac of modern Paris" by Sir Henry 'Chips' Channon and as "the best host in all Europe"; his parties were famous. In 1953, author Mégret Christian published Danaé, a roman à clef based on Redé's life.
Baron de Redé was for the most part unknown to the public at large. He did, however, live a life of immense luxury which infiltrated all areas of his life. His estate (the contents of his apartments at the Hôtel Lambert) was auctioned after his death by Sotheby's in a specially held sale and realized millions of pounds. Included in the many items, which comprised three catalogues, was a 32-light chandelier expected to sell for between one and two million euros.
He died suddenly at the home of a friend, Carmen Saint, at the age of 82. His memoirs Alexis: The Memoirs of the Baron de Redé were published posthumously in 2005. Hugo Vickers is credited as editor, but was also the ghostwriter.
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