Ethel du Pont

Ethel du Pont Roosevelt-Warren (January 30, 1916 – May 25, 1965) was an American heiress and socialite and a member of the prominent du Pont family. She is known for her widely publicized marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., son of the 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt and her eventual suicide in 1965.[1]

Ethel du Pont
Du Pont in 1937
Born(1916-01-30)January 30, 1916
Wilmington, Delaware
DiedMay 25, 1965(1965-05-25) (aged 49)
Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
EducationEthel Walker School
Spouse(s)
Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.
​
(
m. 1937; div. 1949)

Benjamin S. Warren, Jr.
​
(
m. 1950)
Children
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt III
  • Christopher du Pont Roosevelt
  • Benjamin S. Warren III
Parent(s)
  • Eugene du Pont, Jr.
  • Ethel Pyle
RelativesDu Pont family

Early life

Ethel du Pont was born on January 30, 1916 in Wilmington, Delaware, the eldest child of Eugene du Pont, Jr. and Ethel Pyle.[2] She was the granddaughter of Eugène du Pont (1840–1902), the first head of the modern DuPont corporation, who saw the corporation into the 20th century.[3] Her siblings were Aimee du Pont, Nicholas R. du Pont, and Eugene du Pont III.[2]

She was raised at Owl's Nest, the family's estate in Greenville, Delaware,[4] attended Misses Hebb's School in Wilmington and graduated from the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut.[2]

Personal life

On June 30, 1937, she married Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr. (1914–1988), third son of sitting President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Sr. and First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt,[5][4] and grand-nephew of President Theodore Roosevelt.[2] They had two sons:

The couple separated and formally divorced in 1949.[7] In December 1950, Ethel du Pont Roosevelt remarried to prominent Detroit lawyer, Benjamin S. Warren, Jr., a Yale College and University of Michigan Law School graduate. Together, they had a son:[8]

  • Benjamin S. Warren III (born 1954)[9]

Death

Ethel du Pont was forty-nine years old when she committed suicide on May 25, 1965.[1] She had been under psychiatric care several times in the years preceding her death and spent time at the Silver Hill Foundation, a hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut.[1] Her death took place a few months before her son Christopher's wedding in June 1965 and while her son Warren, then 10 years old, was away at boarding school. [1] Her family endowed the Harvard Medical School Ethel Dupont-Warren Fellowship Award for research in Psychiatry.[10]

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References
  1. Jones, David R. (May 26, 1965). "Ethel du Pont Dead In Apparent Suicide Ethel du Pont, Heiress, Is Apparent Suicide at Suburban Detroit Home". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  2. "SON OF PRESIDENT TO WED MISS DUPONT Troth of Ethel, Wilmington Heiress, to Franklin Jr. Is Made Known. WEDDING SET FOR JUNE Fiance, Student at Harvard, to Remain There Until After His Graduation. THE PRESIDENT'S SON AND HIS FIANCEE ROOSEVELT JR. WINS MISS ETHEL DU PONT". The New York Times. November 15, 1936. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  3. "Heritage: Eugene du Pont". DuPont. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  4. "CHURCH WEDDING FOR ETHEL DU PONT Heiress Will Become Bride of Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. in Historic Delaware Edifice. BARS ELABORATE BRIDAL Newsmen's Visit 'Worse Than Campaigning With Father' for President's Son". The New York Times. November 16, 1936. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  5. Mcquiston, John T. (18 August 1988). "Franklin Roosevelt Jr., 74, Ex-Congressman, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  6. "Roosevelt Genealogy". fdrlibrary.marist.edu. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  7. "Representative Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. To Marry Miss Suzanne Perrin in August". The New York Times. July 30, 1949. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  8. "ETHEL D. ROOSEVELT IS WED TO ATTORNEY". The New York Times. December 28, 1950. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  9. Staff. "A du Pont and Roosevelt Marry…But It's Anything But Happily Ever After". ashorthistoryblog.com. A Short History. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  10. "Department Of Psychiatry - Harvard Medical School - Research". www.hms.harvard.edu. Harvard Medical School. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
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