Fake Princes' and American Cash

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The Marrying Mdivani's
                               


During the period between the two great wars of the 20th century there burst upon the scene a family of siblings, émigrés from Georgia (The country, not the state) that captured the imagination of the world press, and the hearts and pocketbooks, of the rich and/or famous.  Their name was Mdivani, and their stories are the stuff of Soap Operas.

In Tsarist Russia, there was an aide-de-camp of Tsar Nicholas II by the name of General Mdivani that came from an old aristocratic family from the province of Georgia.  He had five children; 3 sons and two daughters, born between 1903-1910. When the Soviet Union invaded Georgia in 1921 General Mdivani escaped to Paris, along with his wife and five children. There they lived in poverty until his sons, armed with dubious titles, good looks, exquisite manners, and loads of charm and a few fortunate connections, started meeting society ladies.  The lack of money apparently didn’t hurt, as there was a perfectly legitimate excuse for that, and their tragic back story only added to their appeal. In no time the three brothers were marrying well, discarding wives as they ran through fortunes, only to find a new starry-eyed bride willing to subsidize their husband’s lavish lifestyle in exchange for a title of questionable merits.

First to marry was the second Mdivani “Prince”, David. In 1926 he married a famous silent screen star, Mae Murray. Prince David was Mae’s 4th husband, she had previously been married to an heir of a brewery-supply dealer, who cut off his son’s allowance when he married Mae, and then she had married Olympic bobsled champion Jay O’Brien.  Her third husband was movie director Robert Z Leonard.  Poor Mae, Prince David not only bankrupted her, but gave her poor career advice that resulted in her being blackballed in the movies.  Prince David would go on to marry Sinclair Oil heiress Virginia Sinclair.

  "Prince" David and Mae Murray
                                            

Then the oldest brother, Serge, married first, actress Pola Negri, famous for being the lover of Rudolf Valentino and making a scene at his funeral. After she lost her fortune in the stock market crash in 1929 he abandoned her for Opera Star, Mary McCormic. After their high profile divorce, he married the discarded wife of his younger brother, Louisa Astor. His marrying ways came to an end when he died in 1936 after being kicked in the head by a polo pony.


 Pola Negi and her Georgian "Prince" Serge 
    



The youngest brother, Alexis had married Louisa Astor in 1931, but dumped her when he met Woolworth heiress, Barbara Hutton, who was one of the world’s wealthiest women at the time. He was divorced from Barbara, and probably looking for another wealthy wife, when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1935.

                                                   
Barbara Hutton and Prince Alexis Mdivani


The  Mdivani brothers were bad matrimonial prospects; 8 wives between 3 men (And the early deaths of 2 of them probably kept the total of wives from being higher), yet that didn’t stop women from laying their hearts and fortunes at their feet.















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