Gould, Anna

SOCIALITE, HEIR (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
BORN 5 Jun 1875, New York City, New York: Manhattan - DIED 30 Nov 1961, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine: American Hospital
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Passy Cimetière, 2 Rue du Commandant Schloesing (division 11 (Palewski Chapel))

Anna Gould was the daughter of the railway magnate Jay Gould (1836-1892). Her mother was Helen Day Miller (1838-1889). She was plump and physically unattractive, but she was very rich. She was first engaged to the actor Frank Woodruff (1906-1983), but her brother George convinced her to break the engagement. In 1894 she met the French nobleman and politician Boni de Castellone (1867-1932) and they married in New York on 4 March 1895. In 1896 the construction started of their new residence, the Palais Rose in Paris, built by Ernest Sanson. In 1897 they bought a huge steam yacht, the Walhalla.

They had five children together before they divorced in 1906 after he had spent USD 10 million of her family's money and cheated on her frequently. In 1908 she married Boni's cousin, the socialite Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Sagan (1859-1937). Although this marriage was not happy either, she had two further children with him. She did not divorce her second husband because in that case it would cost her the title Duchess of Talleyrand. Their son Howard committed suicide in 1929.

Her second husband died in 1937 and she moved back to the USA in 1939. She lived in New York and in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. She was old and fragile when she returned to Paris in May 1961. She died at the American Hospital on 30 November 1961, and she was buried at the Passy Cemetery in the same tomb as her second husband.

Family
• Husband: Talleyrand-Périgord, Hélie de, Duc de Sagan (1908-1937)

Images

The grave of Anna Gould at the Cimetière de Passy, Paris.
Picture by Androom (06 Feb 2025)

 

The grave of Anna Gould and Gaston Palewski at the Cimetière de Passy, Paris.
Picture by Androom (06 Feb 2025)

 

Sources
Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord (1859-1937) - Wikipédia (FR)


Goulue, La

Published: 01 Oct 2025
Last update: 01 Oct 2025