A Dangerous Woman: American Beauty, Noted Philanthropist, Nazi Collaborator – The Life of Florence Gould

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Description

A revealing biography of Florence Gould, fabulously rich socialite and patron of the arts, who hid a dark past as a Nazi collaborator in 1940’s Paris.

Born in turn-of-the-century San Francisco to French parents, Florence moved to Paris, aged eleven. Believing that only money brought respectability and happiness, she turned into the third wife of Frank Jay Gould, son of the railway millionaire Jay Gould. She guided Frank’s millions into hotels and casinos, creating a luxury hotel and casino empire. She entertained Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Joseph Kennedy, and plenty of Hollywood stars, like Charlie Chaplin, who turned into her lover. At the same time as the party ended for most Americans after the Crash of 1929, Frank and Florence refused to go home. Throughout the Occupation, Florence took a number of German lovers and hosted a controversial salon. As the Allies closed in, the unscrupulous Florence turned into embroiled in a notorious money laundering operation for fleeing high-ranking Nazis.

Yet after the war, not only did she keep away from prosecution, but her vast fortune bought her respectability as a significant contributor to the Metropolitan Museum and New York University, among many others. It also earned her friends like Estée Lauder who obligingly looked the opposite direction. A seductive and utterly amoral woman who loved to say “money doesn’t care who owns it”, Florence’s life proved a strong argument that most likely money can buy happiness finally.

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