Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt (23 August 1904 – 13 February 1965) was a Swiss-born American socialite best known as the mother of fashion designer and artist Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandmother of television journalist Anderson Cooper. She was a central figure in Vanderbilt vs. Whitney, one of the most sensational American custody trials in the 20th century.
Born at the Hotel Nationale in Lucerne, Switzerland, as Mercedes Morgan, she was a daug...
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Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt (23 August 1904 – 13 February 1965) was a Swiss-born American socialite best known as the mother of fashion designer and artist Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandmother of television journalist Anderson Cooper. She was a central figure in Vanderbilt vs. Whitney, one of the most sensational American custody trials in the 20th century.
Born at the Hotel Nationale in Lucerne, Switzerland, as Mercedes Morgan, she was a daughter of Henry Hayes Morgan Sr, an American diplomat who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in Europe. He later served as the U.S. consul general in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Berlin, Germany; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Brussels, Belgium. Her mother was his second wife, the former Laura Delphine Kilpatrick.
Her maternal grandfather, Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (1836–1881), was a Union Army general during the American Civil War who also served as the U.S. minister to Chile. Her maternal grandmother, Luisa Kilpatrick, née Valdivieso...
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