Béla Hadik


Count Béla Hadik was an Hungarian politician who came to the United States in 1946.

Early life

Hadik was born on January 31, 1905 in Budapest, Hungary. He was the youngest of four children born to Countess Alexandra Zichy and Count János Hadik, who was briefly the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary in October 1918 under Charles IV. Among his siblings was Amalia Andrea Johanna Alexandra, Margaret Johanna Maria Gabriella Rafaella Eva Alexandra and Anthony Mary Martin Max.
His paternal grandparents were Count Béla Hadik, a Rear Admiral and Privy Councillor, and Countess Ilona Barkóczy, only daughter and heir of Count János Barkóczy. Among his extended family was uncles Endre Hadik-Barkóczy and Miksa Hadik. Through his father, he was a great-great-grandson of András Hadik de Futak, famous for capturing the Prussian capital Berlin during the Seven Years' War. His uncle, Count Alexander Hadik, was rumored to have been engaged to Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt, the widow of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, in 1908, but the marriage never happened.
He graduated from the Agricultural University of Magyarovar.

Career

He was a member of the upper chamber of the Diet of Hungary, the House of Magnates, in prewar Hungary and during World War II, served as a lieutenant of Hungarian cavalry. He was made a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece of the House of Habsburg.
After his marriage, he took over management of the family estate and palace in Seregélyes. During World War II, the palace was occupied by German troops, and, later, by the Soviets. During this time, most of the family's possessions were lost.
In 1945, Hadik and his family left Hungary and in 1946, they moved to the United States and lived in Chester, New Hampshire, where they bought a house from her cousin Bill Vanderbilt. In Chester, he founded the Futaki Kennels and bred Vizsla pointers. Hadik ran dogs in national and regional field trials, and bred and trained several champions, including Futaki Darocz.

Personal life

On April 18, 1931, Hadik married Countess Alice Széchényi. She was the daughter of Count László Széchenyi, the former Hungarian Minister to the U.S., and his American born-wife, Countess Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi, who visited Hungary almost every summer with their five daughters. The wedding took place at St. Matthew's Church in Washington, D.C. and was officiated by the Most Rev. Pietro Fumasoni Biondi, the Apostolic Delegate to the United States, followed by a reception at the Hungarian Legation. As a wedding gift to Alice, his mother sent a "diamond necklace with earrings to match, which had been the gift of the Empress, Queen Maria Theresa, to an ancestor of the bride and bridegroom." A few weeks after their wedding, his wife was stricken with appendicitis, but recovered. Alice's younger sister later married, and divorced, Christopher Finch-Hatton, 15th Earl of Winchilsea in 1935. In 1946, he gave away Alice's youngest sister at her wedding to Alexander zu Eltz. Together, they were the parents of:
In New Hampshire, his wife was instrumental the founding of, the now defunct, White Pines College. In 1965, she assisted with planning the fourth annual ball of the Grand Council of the Hungarian Boy Scouts Association.
After a long illness, Hadik died on February 16, 1971 in Camden, South Carolina. He was buried at Seregélyes in Hungary. His wife died three years later in Lisbon.

Legacy

In 2017, Szapáry and Széchényi family descendants donated several family artifacts to the Hungarian National Museum, including a wedding photo from 1931 of Count Béla Hadik, his bride, Alice Széchényi, and her father, Count László Széchényi.