Jane Engelhard: A Study in Style
A couple walking through a southside Boca Grande home with a realtor stopped to gaze at a series of photographs on the wall. The centerpiece photo was of a perfectly groomed woman, standing by a piano. The others included a picture of that same woman with President Lyndon Johnson and two of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, both autographed. “Who’s that?” the visitor inquired.
“That was Jane Engelhard,” the realtor responded. “The family who lived here knew the Engelhards well.”
Tall, stunningly beautiful, elegant. It was obvious from her photograph that here was a woman who could stop conversation when she entered a room. And, according to newspaper reports, that’s exactly what Jane Engelhard did.
The daughter of the Brazilian ambassador to China, Mrs. Engelhard was born Marie Annette Reiss and lived in France before moving to New York City in the early 1940s. By 1942, she’d become a major figure in New York society. In 1947, she married Charles Engelhard, a larger-than-life entrepreneur, who increased his family fortune tenfold in the precious metals business and became a leader in the national financial and business community.
Jane Engelhard was herself a formidable individual. She was often on lists of the world’s best-dressed women and was named to the International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame in 1972. She helped Jackie Kennedy redecorate the White House and served as a personal representative of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. She was the first woman commissioner on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
At one time, the Engelhards had 14 residences on four continents, including their marble-floored Pamplemousse retreat in Boca Grande. To this small island, the Engelhards brought their sense of style and guests that included Lady Bird Johnson and high-ranking officials in the Catholic Church.
Business associate and friend Albert Vanderbilt recalled traveling with the Engelhards. “Everyplace we went we met the important people – lunch with Indira Gandhi, the embassy people. You see things worth seeing in a country; you don’t sit around all day and have drinks. You learn what the place is like and what its problems are.”
In 1949, Charles Engelhard met Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels. Fleming was believed to be inspired by his friend to create the character Goldfinger, who, like Mr. Engelhard, also loved precious metals and racehorses. After the release of the movie Goldfinger in 1964, it was reported that Mr. Engelhard took the characterization with good nature and once showed up for a party in an orange Goldfinger sweatshirt.
Following her husband’s untimely death in Boca Grande in 1971 at the age of 53, Jane Engelhard continued to donate generously to many humanitarian causes, including making major financial contributions and gifts of art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She passed away at her home in Nantucket in 2004.
Addition: Charles W Engelhard
Charles W. Engelhard, Jane’s husband, was one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time of his death in 1971. The basis of his fortune was Engelhard Industries, Inc. founded by the Englehard family in 1902 in Newark New Jersey. The company refined and fabricated precious metals. It was acquired by BASF in 2006. Engelhard was a major contributor to the Democratic party and served both President John Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson on diplomatic missions to heads of state and to the Vatican. He was also a commissioner of the Port of New York Authority.
Englehard was also a breeder and owner of race horses. The most famous of his horses was Njinsky. Englehard died in Boca Grande having celebrated his 54th birthday a few weeks before at a party attended by former President Johnson and his wife as well as Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana.
*This article contains information from AllEngelhard.com., the Gasparilla Inn website and Mark Goebel, Naples Realtor.