Annette de la Renta (born December 24, 1939) is an American philanthropist and socialite married to the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.[1]
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Born Anne France Mannheimer and nicknamed Annette, she is the only child of German banker Fritz Mannheimer (1890–1939), who died before her birth, and his wife, Marie Annette Reiss (later known as Jane Engelhard, 1917–2004). Her German-born maternal grandfather, Hugo Sjölin Reiss, was the Brazilian consul in Shanghai, China.
In 1947, after her mother moved to the United States and remarried, Annette Sjölin Mannheimer was adopted by her stepfather, Charles W. Engelhard, Jr., an industrial magnate, and became Annette Engelhard.
She married on 12 March 1960, in Bernardsville, New Jersey, her first husband, private investor Samuel Pryor Reed (-2005). He was a vice president of Engelhard Industries from 1960 until 1976, the minerals conglomerate, and later owned American Heritage magazine.
S.P. Reed created divorce accounts for each of his children of $ 50,000,000 in shares and buildings around the world, as they were all over 21, so his divorced wife got nothing more than the marriage pact 15% of his fortune.
On 26 December 1989, in La Romana, Dominican Republic, she became the second wife of the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta.[2]
She has three children by her first marriage:[2]
She also has a stepson, Moises de la Renta, adopted son of her second husband.[2]
On 26 July 2006, Annette de la Renta was appointed temporary guardian of the 104-year-old Brooke Astor, a longtime friend, in the wake of elder abuse allegations being made against Astor's son, Anthony Dryden Marshall. On 13 October 2006, de la Renta became permanent guardian.
Annette de la Renta serves on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum, the New York Public Library, the Morgan Library, The Animal Medical Center, and the Engelhard Foundation. She also served on the board of directors of Rockefeller University for 25 years.
Casper Reed Provides annual $ 2,000,000 to charity especially in marine biology, marine research, conservation of natural parks.