Mercedes Bass

Mercedes Bass
Born Mercedes Tavacoli
1944
Tehran, Iran
Residence Fort Worth, Texas
Manhattan, New York
Aspen, Colorado
Nationality American
Occupation Philanthropist, Socialite
Political party Republican
Board member of Carnegie Hall Corporation, Aspen Institute, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, American Academy in Rome
Spouse(s) Francis L. Kellogg (divorced)
Sid Bass (divorced)
Parent(s) Abolhassan Diba (step-father)
Sorure Tavacoli-Diba (mother)
Relatives Farah Pahlavi (step-cousin)

Mercedes Bass (born Mercedes Tavacoli) is an Iranian-American philanthropist active in New York City, Aspen, Colorado and Fort Worth, Texas. She has supported the Metropolitan Opera and she is a trustee of the Aspen Institute and the American Academy in Rome.

Early life

Mercedes Tavacoli Diba was born in Iran in 1944.[1][2] She was educated in England.[3] She received a Bachelor's degree in Business from a Swiss university.[3] Her father died when she was young. Her mother Sorure Tavacoli subsequently married Abolhassan Diba, a grandson of Nosrat-od-Dowleh Firouz Mirza. She is a step-cousin of Farah Pahlavi. Her step-father Abolhassan Diba is also the half-brother of former Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. [4]

Philanthropy

She serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of the Carnegie Hall Corporation as well as Managing Director of the Board of Trustees and Executive Board of the Metropolitan Opera, both of which are based in New York City.[3][5] In 2008, she appeared as an extra at the Met.[6] In 2006 she donated $25 million dollars to the Metropolitan Opera. The Mercedes T Bass Grand Tier was subsequently named in her honour. [7]

Additionally, she serves on the Advisory Board of the Aspen Music School and on the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Institute, both of which are based in Aspen, Colorado.[3][8] She has also served as Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and member of the Board of Directors of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association in Fort Worth, Texas, where she has been a donor.[3][9] Currently, she serves as this orchestra's Chairman of the Board. [10]

She serves as Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and member of the Board of Trustees of the American Academy in Rome in Rome, Italy.[3] In 2013, she chaired the gala of the Rome Prize.[11]

In 2012, she was a donor to Rick Perry's presidential campaign.[12] In 2014, she was the underwriter of the Oscar de la Renta exhibition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas.[13]

Personal life

Her first husband, Ambassador Francis L. Kellogg, served as a Special Assistant to Secretaries of State William P. Rogers and Henry Kissinger.[1] They met while she was working as an executive assistant to a UN official. They married in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 12 1972. The Mayor of Geneva performed the ceremony. Ardeshir Zahedi was Kellogg's best man and the Shah's personal emissary at the ceremony. [14]

In 1986, she married Sid Bass, an heir and investor.[1] They divorced in 2011.[1][15] Following the divorce, their 26-acre mansion 'Oak Hill' on Crestline Road Fort Worth, their Aspen home and apartment at 845 Fifth Avenue in New York were all transferred to her. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Eric Wilson, An ’80s Scandal Comes to a Quiet End, The New York Times, October 14, 2011
  2. ↑ Maureen Callahan, The story behind Sid & Mercedes Bass' affair, marriage and surprising split, The New York Post, October 16, 2011
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Aspen Institute
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Bloomberg BusinessWeek: Mercedes T. Bass
  6. ↑ Haven Thompson, Mercedes at the Met, W, April 2008
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen and the Forbes 400 list, Aspen Daily News, September 28, 2007
  9. ↑ Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra forms ‘artistic partnership’ with Cliburn winner Kholodenko, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 20, 2014
  10. ↑ http://www.fwsymphony.org/about/board.asp
  11. ↑ Amanda Gordon, Scene Last Night: Bass Fetes Rome Muse; Tory Burch, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, April 19, 2013
  12. ↑ Anna M.Tinsley, Texas donors pour $61 million into election, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 4, 2012
  13. ↑ Christina Geyer, Bush Presidential Center displays Oscar de la Renta originals, The Dallas Morning News, July 18, 2014
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ Love, etc.: Sid and Mercedes Bass divorce, The Washington Post, 10/10/2011
  16. ↑
  17. ↑
  18. ↑
  19. ↑
  20. ↑
  21. ↑
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