Fernando Yznaga

Fernando Alfonso Yznaga del Valle (October 16, 1850 – March 6, 1901) was a Cuban American banker who was one of the best-known men of New York and foreign society and club life. Described as "one of the most entertaining of men, very clever at epigram and repartee, and famous for quaint sayings. His life had been adventurous and, from a domestic point of view, somewhat of a stormy nature." Early life Yznaga was born in New York on October 16, 1850. He was the oldest of four children, and only son, born to merchant diplomat Antonio Modesto Yznaga del Valle (1823–1892) and Ellen Maria (née Clements) Yznaga (1833–1908). His father was from an old Cuban family who owned a large plantation (Torre Iznaga) and sugar mills in the vicinity of Trinidad, Cuba; they had connections to several Spanish aristocratic families. In addition to plantations in Cuba and Louisiana, his parents owned properties in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. Among his siblings was Consuelo Yznaga (who married George Montagu, 8th Duke of Manchester in 1876), Natica Yznaga (who married Sir John Lister-Kaye, 3rd Baronet in 1881) and Emilie Yznaga (who never married). His maternal grandfather, Samuel Clements, was a steamboat captain who owned Ravenswood Place, a plantation in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, which his mother inherited upon their death. Through his sister Consuelo, he was uncle to William Montagu, 9th Duke of Manchester and two nieces, known as May and Nell, who both died of consumption before marrying. He was with his sister in Davos when her youngest daughter, Lady Alice (Nell), died. Reportedly, he "never seemed a very strong man since then," and it was said that "his constitution had never recovered from the long, nervous strain which he went through at that time." He was graduated from the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard, before returning south and earning an LL.D. degree from Louisiana Law School while at his families plantation near Lake Concordia in Louisiana, where they were all well known in New Orleans society.