ANTAL De BEKESSY

De BEKESSY--Antal.

Antal Miklos Post De Bekessy, known as "Tony" to his family and friends, died in Paris, France, on April 16, 2015. A grandson of his beloved grandmother, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and a godson of Eleanor Roosevelt, he was also predeceased in death by his father, the noted Hungarian-Austrian author and journalist, Janos De Bekessy ("Hans Habe") (1977) and his mother, Eleanor Close-Barzin (2006). A resident of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, he was a graduate of St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, and Princeton University (Class of 1965). A co-founder of the Breguet Construction Corporation and a Director of the Carolina Mirror Corporation, he was from time to time a director and advisor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Opera, Princeton University (Departments of Romance Languages), and the Hillwood Foundation of Washington, D.C. For his work in fostering U.S. support for the art and culture of France, the French Ministry of Culture bestowed on him the honor, "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres." He contributed generously to the conservation of the art of Venice and, true to his father's roots, generously funded the translation of guidebooks and libretti for the Austrian Gallery Belvedere Museum and the Vienna State Opera House. Closer to home, he was especially proud to have commenced the establishment of Masterships at St. Paul's School in honor of faculty members David W. Read and William R. Matthews. He is survived by his daughter, Laetitia Allen Vere, of London, England, and devoted members of his personal staff and long-time friends and colleagues. He was buried in a private ceremony at the Princeton Cemetery in Princeton, New Jersey, steps away from his beloved Alma Mater, on August 14, 2015.