Prince Alexis Obolensky


Prince Alexis Obolensky Jr., a Russian-American socialite and sometimes called the "father of modern backgammon," was a member of the princely Obolensky family of the Rurik Dynasty.

Early life

Obolensky was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on April 20, 1915. He was the son of Alexey Alexandrovitch Obolensky and Lubov Petrovna "Luba" Obolensky. Among his siblings was older sister Alexandra Obolensky, the wife of Anatol Nicholas Sazonoff, Princess Luba Tributksoy of Sea Cliff on Long Island. He was a cousin of Prince Serge Obolensky, who married the American heiress Ava Alice Muriel Astor.
In 1917, his family fled to Istanbul from Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution, and in the 1920s, they emigrated to the United States from France. He later attended the Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, and graduated from the University of Virginia, where he was a member of the Virginia Glee Club and Zeta Psi.

Career

Obolensky worked as a real estate broker in the Palm Beach area, where he maintained a home.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he traveled widely promoting backgammon as a gambling and tournament game. He co-founded the World Backgammon Club, an organization in Manhattan that sponsors international tournaments, serving as its president until his death.

Personal life

On January 6, 1939, Obolensky was married to Jane Wheeler Irby, a Fermata School graduate in Aiken who was the daughter of Robert Garland Irby, at Manassas, Virginia. Before their divorce in April 1952, they were the parents of:
On November 22, 1952, he was married to Katherine Taylor "Kappy" Gennett, the former wife of Carter Tate Gennett and daughter of J. McAlister Pearce, in New York City. His first wife later remarried to Harold H. Lihme in 1953. They also divorced and in 1965, he married Jacqueline Ann Stedman.
Obolensky died at his home in Manhattan on February 8, 1986.

Legacy

In 2018, Obolensky was elected to the Backgammon Hall of Fame.

Published works