Gräfin Maria von Wurmbrand-Stuppach (1914 - 2003)
Kurzbiographie
Gräfin Maria von Wurmbrand-Stuppach (bekannt als Etti Plesch) wurde am 3. Februar 1914 in Wien geboren.
Auszug aus The Times vom 1. Mai 2003:
Mrs Arpad Plesch earned a place in The Guinness Book of Records by twice winning the Derby, in 1961 and 1980. A legendary figure in racing circles, she also ended Nijinsky’s run of 11 consecutive classic wins with her Arc de Triomphe victory in 1970 with Sassafras. Meanwhile her private life was no less adventurous. She married six husbands, losing two of them to the French author, poet and femme fatale, Louise de Vilmorin. ...
Within a couple of months Etti had married another Hungarian count, Thomas Esterházy (the nephew of her grandmother’s sister), a cultured and easygoing man. Remaining married for a record four years, they lived in the enchanting castle of Devecser, in Hungary, and had an excellent chef. They hunted in the forests, travelled widely, and had one daughter, Marie- Anna Berta Felicie Johanna Ghislaine Theodora Huberta Georgina Helene Genoveva, known as “Bunny”.
Etti’s new life was complicated only, since she had been married into both families, by the unwritten rule that hostesses in Budapest never asked the Esterházys and the Pálffys to the same dinners. But in February 1942, she departed for Rome, while her third husband remained in Budapest. He joined Princess Johannes (Marizza) of Liechtenstein after dinner at the Colonial Bar, and there met the bewitching Louise de Vilmorin. Esterházy dropped her home, telling her: “For me you are like a better devil!” He was nevertheless on the phone to her within a few hours, and she promptly invited him round.
When Etti returned from Rome, she found that De Vilmorin had stolen another husband from her. Another divorce followed, and De Vilmorin eloped with Esterházy, though she did not marry him. During the war he was imprisoned in Hungary after the Soviet occupation. When he escaped, having lost all his property, he hastened to her in Neuilly. She took one look at him and announced: “Un Esterházy n’est pas exportable!”
Sie starb am 29. April 2003 in Monte Carlo.
