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Richard René Silvin | |
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 Rene Silvin in Palm Beach, 2016 | |
| Born | (1948-05-16)May 16, 1948 (age 77) Bay Shore, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Institut Le Rosey Georgetown University (BS) Cornell University (MBA) |
| Occupations | Author and lecturer |
| Website | www |
Richard René Silvin (born May 16, 1948) is an American retired corporate executive, turned author and lecturer, who is best known as an expert onWallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, Palm Beach society architect,Addison Mizner, the 1930s French Line flagship,SS Normandie, and the history ofMar-a-Lago.
Silvin was born inBay Shore, New York to an American mother and a French father.[1] His grandfather, Léon Silvin, partnered with Albert Keller-Dorian, inventedKeller-Dorian cinematography. They received 38 patents,[2] including the development of aluminum foil and cellophane.
During the first six years of his life Silvin spent most of his time in Islip, Long Island, NY living with a nanny, Mary "Nonnie" Lee, while his parents were mostly in France. At age seven he went to Swiss boarding schools; first to La Clairière inVillars-Sur-Ollon (1955–1958),Switzerland, and then toInstitut Le Rosey inRolle andGstaad, Switzerland, (1958–1966). At Le Rosey, Silvin both rowed and coached the younger rowing team. His team went on to become National Swiss Champions in 1966, a feat no school had ever achieved.[3]
In 1966 Silvin moved back to the United States to attend college. He earned a BS fromGeorgetown University in 1970, and an MBA in both Finance and Hospital Administration fromCornell University in 1972. He worked at Friesen International, a hospital design and management consulting firm in Washington, DC from 1972 until it was acquired by American Medical International, Inc. (NYSE: AMI)[4] in 1976. He rose to the head of the International Division of AMI, which owned and operated thirty hospitals in ten foreign countries.[5] In 1990 AMI sold its Swiss hospital group toUnion Bank of Switzerland'sHirslanden Private Hospital Group. Subsequently, Hirslanden Group was acquired by South Africa's Medi-Clinic for $2.36B.[6][7][8]
After retiring from the hospital industry in 1998, Silvin started writing.[9] He publishedI Survived Swiss Boarding Schools: An Arc To Triumph in 2006. The book received notoriety among Le Rosey alumni. Silvin's second book,Walking the Rainbow: An Arc To Triumph[10] was published in 2008, was also autobiographical, and it chronicled the AIDS crisis. At the same time he published three article for theXVII International AIDS Conference, 2008 in Mexico city. All three comprise the history of AIDS up to 2008. Silvin's third book,Noblesse Oblige: The Duchess of Windsor As I Knew Her, was published in 2010, recounting Silvin's encounters with the widowed Duchess of Windsor, the formerWallis Simpson.[11]
In 2014 Silvin published his first coffee table book: "Villa Mizner-The House That Changed Palm Beach".[12][13] The book explores the life and work of architectAddison Mizner, who was responsible for creating theMediterranean Revival look in South Florida, includingVia Mizner and the other vias around Worth Avenue inPalm Beach.
Silvin founded Silvin Books LLC in 2015, a full-service publishing company, and released a second coffee table book in 2016.Normandie: The Tragic Story of The Most Majestic Ocean Liner[14] details the building of theFrench Line's magnificent Art Deco flagship, its four-year active working life, and its sinking in New York City in 1942, when she was being converted to serve as America's only large troop carrier.[15]
In 2017 Silvin Books was renamed Silvin Books & Productions, and expanded into publishing other authors' works, as well as assisting clients in creating and presenting lectures. Silvin Books & Productions then released the second edition of Silvin's bookNoblesse Oblige, the Duchess of Windsor As I Knew Her in November 2017. In the fall of 2018 Silvin Books & Productions released the second edition ofI Survived Swiss Boarding Schools, now with the new subtitle:all that glitters is not gold, which chronicles his time atLe Rosey in the 50s and 60s.The book once again received notoriety among Le Rosey alumni. A year later, in the fall of 2019, Silvin Books & Productions released the second edition of Silvin's second book, now titledWalking the Rainbow, all that glitters is not gold.
Silvin started lecturing about theDuchess of Windsor in 2010[16] after the release of his third book. He increased his lecture opportunities when he added Addison Mizner's life and work as a lecture topic in 2014. In 2016, with the publication of the Normandie book,[14] he added this topic to his lecture series. Additionally, he expanded the Normandie presentation by lecturing about the history of transatlantic ocean liner travel in general.[17] In 2017 Silvin premiered his presentation which chronicles the history ofMar-a-Lago, fromMarjorie Merriweather Post toDonald Trump.[18] He followed this up in 2019 with a presentation about the lives of several wealthy famous women whose money did not bring them happiness. This includes stories about his personal relationship withAnn Woodward. René and his brother grew up with Ann's two sons atLe Rosey. Ann killed her husbandWilliam Woodward Jr. Also included areChristina Onassis andAlexander Onassis who were childhood friends of René, andBarbara Hutton,Leona Helmsley andSunny von Bülow. In 2020, during theCOVID-19 pandemic lock down, he added another string of lecture topics, which he offered in Zoom format:Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, whom he was friendly with in the 1980s,Princess Alice of Battenberg,Marilyn Monroe,Edith Piaf,Whitney Houston,Marlene Dietrich, whom he was also friendly with when he was a teenager, and the history of theConcorde. In 2021 he added the lives ofJacqueline Kennedy Onassis andAudrey Hepburn as lecture topics. In 2022 he premiered two new lecture topics: the life of architectFrank Lloyd Wright, and the movie career and life as a princess ofGrace Kelly. In 2023 he premiered his new presentation about the life ofElizabeth Taylor, while in 2024 he addedKatharine Hepburn to his repertoire. In 2025 he started presenting the life ofCary Grant.
He has lectured at several universities,[19] as well as many venues in Key West,[20] Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida; Atlanta and Thomasville, Georgia;[21] Newport, Rhode Island; North Carolina; Cape Cod, Nantucket,[22][23] in the Berkshires, Massachusetts;[24][25] and Harbor Springs, Michigan.Silvin is also a regular speaker at the well-knownKravis Center for the Performing Arts inWest Palm Beach.[26], as well as theSociety of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida.[27]
In 2010 Silvin competed in theGay Games inCologne, Germany.[28] He entered the body building competition in the over-60 class, and was awarded the gold medal. Because of this win, he published an article in the Queer Times, called "The Road To Cologne".[29]
In 2014, Silvin was appointed to theLandmarks Preservation Commission in the town of Palm Beach, which is a voluntary position. Members are voted in by the Town Council. He served on this commission as the Senior Alternate[30][31] from March 2014 until March 2016, when he was voted in as a full member.[5] In December 2016 he became the Landmarks Commission's vice-chairman.[32] In April 2020 Silvin was elected chairman of the Palm Beach Landmarks Preservation Commission.[33][34] Because of term limits, Silvin ended his chairmanship in 2022.[35] During his tenure on the Landmarks Preservation Commission Silvin was an outspoken supporter of the renovation of the Royal Poinciana Playhouse inPalm Beach, Florida.[36]
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