Warren Delano Robbins (September 3, 1885 – April 7, 1935) was an American diplomat and first cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served as Chief of Protocol of the United States from 1931 to 1933 and as the U.S. Minister to El Salvador and United States Ambassador to Canada from 1933 to 1935.

Early life

File:Franklin D. Roosevelt, his father, and Warren D. Robbins in Groton, Massachusetts - NARA - 196916.jpg, his father James Roosevelt I, and Warren, 1899]]

Warren Delano Robbins was born on September 3, 1885, in Brooklyn, New York, and named after his maternal grandfather, Warren Delano Jr. He was the son of Katherine Robbins Delano (1860–1953) and Charles Albert Robbins (1854–1889). From his parents marriage, he had one sibling, sister Muriel Delano Robbins (wife of Cyril Edgar Martineau of London).{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=MISS ROBBINS A BRIDE.; Her Wedding to Cyril Martineau of London at Tuxedo Park. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/06/02/archives/miss-robbins-a-bride-her-wedding-to-cyril-martineau-of-london-at.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=2 June 1907}}{{cite news |title= Deaths MARTINEAU, CYRIL FRANCIS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/15/classified/paid-notice-deaths-martineau-cyril-francis.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=15 October 2000}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|At his sister Muriel Delano Robbins' 1907 wedding to Cyril Edgar Martineau (a Londoner whose family left France after the evocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685), her brother Warren and cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt were among the ushers.{{cite book |last1=Harper |first1=John Lamberton |title=American Visions of Europe: Franklin D. Roosevelt, George F. Kennan, and Dean G. Acheson |date=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-56628-5 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7kdITKezFMkC&pg=PA19 |access-date=1 May 2020 |language=en}}}} After his father's death in 1889, his mother remarried to Hiram Price Collier, a Unitarian minister,{{cite web |title=Roosevelt Genealogy |url=http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/resources/genealogy.html |website=www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu |publisher=Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum |access-date=18 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301034423/http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/resources/genealogy.html |archive-date=1 March 2019 |url-status=dead }} and they lived in a mansion in Tuxedo Park, New York.{{cite book |last1=of '81 |first1=Amherst College Class |title=Thirty Years After: A Record of the Class of Eighty-one, Amherst College ... |date=1911 |publisher=Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company |page=165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KOnmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA165 |access-date=1 May 2020 |language=en}} From his mother's second marriage, he was the older half-brother of Sara Roosevelt Collier (wife of Englishman Charles Fellowes-Gordon) and Katharine Price Collier, a Republican U.S. Representative{{cite web |title=ST. GEORGE, Katharine Price Collier (1894-1983) |url=https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=S000764 |website=bioguideretro.congress.gov |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=27 January 2020}} who in 1917 married George St. George, third son of the second Sir Richard St George, 2nd Baronet.{{cite web |title=ST. GEORGE, Katharine Price Collier |url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/ST--GEORGE,-Katharine-Price-Collier-(S000764)/ |website=history.house.gov |publisher=US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives |access-date=27 January 2020 |language=en}}

His paternal grandfather was Daniel Robbins, one of the founders of McKesson, Robbins & Co.{{cite book |title=The Scrap Book |date=1907 |publisher=Frank A. Munsey Company. |page=699 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-d06AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA699 |access-date=1 May 2020 |language=en}} His maternal grandfather was a wealthy and prominent merchant who lived in China during the 1830s and he was a direct descendant of Philip Delano, a Pilgrim who arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621.{{cite book |title=Americana, American Historical Magazine |date=1919 |publisher=National American Society |page=303 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQI7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA303 |access-date=27 February 2019 |language=en}} Among his large extended family was aunt Deborah Perry Delano (wife of William Howell Forbes) uncle Warren Delano IV, aunt Sara Ann Delano (wife of James Roosevelt I), and uncle Frederic Adrian Delano.

After attending the Groton School, which was run by Rev. Endicott Peabody in Groton, Massachusetts (where his cousin Franklin, who was three and a half years older than him, also attended), he graduated from Harvard University in 1908.

Career

File:Baron Moncheur, F.R. Coudert, W.D. Robbins LCCN2014719398.jpg, and Robbins.]]File:Warren Delano Robbins LCCN2016827700.jpg

In 1909, Robbins began his nearly twenty-five year career with the State Department when he became a secretary on the staff of Charles Page Bryan, the United States Ambassador to Portugal. In subsequent years, he would work in a lower-level diplomatic function, including for Charles Sherrill in Argentina in 1909, France in 1911, and Guatemala in 1914.{{cite news |title=SHIFTING OUR ATTACHES.; President Sends Eight Diplomatic Nominations to the Senate. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/05/13/archives/shifting-our-attaches-president-sends-eight-diplomatic-nominations.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=13 May 1914}} Robbins received the decoration of Chevalier de l'Ordre de Leopold from the Belgian government for the service rendered to the mission.{{cite book |last1=of 1908 |first1=Harvard College (1780-) Class |title=Secretary's Third Report |date=1920 |publisher=Harvard University |page=391 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMknAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA391 |access-date=1 May 2020 |language=en}}

In 1916, he was briefly assigned to the Department of State's Division of Latin American Affairs before returning to Argentina in 1917 and then on to Chile in 1919. In 1921, he was promoted as Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs, before serving in Germany (1922) and Italy (1925).{{cite web |title=Warren Delano Robbins - People - Department History |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/robbins-warren-delano |website=history.state.gov |publisher=Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State |access-date=1 May 2020}}

In 1929, he was elevated to Minister and given his first post as Chief of Mission, in Salvador. (The country would change its name to El Salvador while he was at that post.) In 1930, he was made a White House ceremonial officer and, in 1931, was reassigned to the State Department as Chief of Protocol of the United States. In this role, he was responsible for greeting foreign dignitaries and other ceremonial duties.{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=ROBBINS IS NAMED CEREMONY CHIEF; He Will Have Charge of State Department and White House Events. RETAINS RANK OF MINISTER Stimson Explains Importance of New Post in Intercourse With Foreign Nations. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/06/06/archives/robbins-is-named-ceremony-chief-he-will-have-charge-of-state.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=6 June 1931}}

In 1933, Robbins was assigned as Chief of Mission to Canada, a position he held until shortly before his death.

Personal life

File:Mr. and Mrs. Warren Delano Robbins, 1922 March 3.jpg

On September 3, 1910, Robbins was married to Irene de Bruyn (1887–1960),{{cite news |last1=Special to The New York Times |title=Mrs. Warren Robbins |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/05/09/archives/mrs-warren-robbins.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=9 May 1960}} a Belgian who was born and grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina.{{cite news |title=TAKES BRIDE IN BUENOS AYRES.; Warren Delano Robbins to Wed Miss Irene de Bruyn. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/08/23/archives/takes-bride-in-buenos-ayres-warren-delano-robbins-to-wed-miss-irene.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=23 August 1910}} She was a daughter of Casimir de Bruyn,{{cite news |last1=Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES |title=CASIMIR DE BRUYN; Argentine Financier and Father of Mrs. W. D. Robbins |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/04/11/archives/casimir-de-bruyn-argentine-financier-and-father-of-mrs-w-d-robbins.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=11 April 1938}} banker, railroad man, and capitalist who was then the head of the Banco Franco-Argentina. Together, they were the parents of:

Warren Delano Robbins Jr. (1911–1979),{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1979/08/13/112050592.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=13 August 1979}} who also went into the diplomatic service and served as attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires.{{cite news |title=Warren D. Robbins Returns |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/25/archives/warren-d-robbins-returns.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=25 January 1944}}
Edward Hutchinson Robbins (1912–1944), who married Louise Auchincloss (1914–1974), a daughter of Gordon Auchincloss (and niece of U.S. Representative James C. Auchincloss), in 1935.{{cite news |title=MISS AUCHINCLOSS TO WED E.H. ROBBINS; Betrothal to Son of Minister to Canada !s Announced by Gordon Auchinclosses. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/05/26/archives/miss-abchin3loss-towfeh-robbin-betrothal-to-son-of-minister-to.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=26 May 1934}}{{cite news |title=LOUISE AUCHINCLOSS TO BE BRIDE MAY 18; Wedding to Edward H. Robbins to Be Simple Ceremony in Locust Valley Church. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/04/13/archives/louise-auchincloss-to-be-bride-may-18-wedding-to-edward-h-robbins.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=13 April 1935}} After his death, she married developer Allston Boyer in 1947.{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Richard Norton |title=On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller |date=2014 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-375-50580-5 |page=830 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fzeODQAAQBAJ&dq=Louise+Auchincloss+Edward+Robbins&pg=PA830 |access-date=1 May 2020 |language=en}}
Irene Helen Robbins (1914–2000),{{Cite news |date=2000-03-19 |title=Obituary for HELEN ROBBINS FORBES |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-palm-beach-post-obituary-for-helen-r/131754169/ |access-date=2024-12-29 |work=The Palm Beach Post |pages=28}} who married Alexander Cochrane Forbes (1909–2005), a son of F. Murray Forbes (of Cabot, Cabot & Forbes) and first cousin of Alexander Cushing, in 1934.{{cite news |last1=Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES |title=MISS IRENE ROBBINS ENGAGED TO MARRY; Daughter of Diplomat, Who Is Cousin of President, Will Be Wed to A. C. Forbes. JVIADE DEBUT LAST YEAR Bowed at Court of St. James in SpringuFiance Is Graduate of Groton and Harvard. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/11/29/archives/miss-irene-robbins-engaged-to-marry-daughter-of-diplomat-who-is.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=29 November 1933}}{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special To The New York|title=BRILLIANT BRIDAL FOR IRENE ROBBINS; Daughter of Our Minister to Canada Married in Ottawa to Alexander Forbes. MRS, J. ROOSEVELT THERE President's Mother and Officials Greet Couple After Taking of Vows in Archbishop's Palace.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/02/11/archives/brilliant-bridal-for-irene-robbins-daughter-of-our-minister-to.html|access-date=20 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=11 February 1934|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010104655/https://www.nytimes.com/1934/02/11/archives/brilliant-bridal-for-irene-robbins-daughter-of-our-minister-to.html|archive-date=10 October 2017}}

He was a member of the Tuxedo Club, the Knickerbocker Club and the Brook Club in New York. In Washington, he was a member of the Chevy Chase Club and Riding Club.

Robbins died of pneumonia at the Doctors Hospital in New York City on April 7, 1935, aged 49.{{cite news | url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html | format = fee | title = Warren D. Robbins Dies of Pneumonia; Our Minister to Canada and Cousin of the President Had Been Ill a Week | work = The New York Times | date = April 8, 1935 | page = 19 }} After a service at the Church of the Incarnation, he was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. In 1936, Robbins' widow served as a special assistant at the All-American Conference for Maintenance of Peace in Buenos Aires. In 1937, Irene, an interior decorator, was appointed Assistant Chief of the State Department's Foreign Service Buildings Office, responsible for furnishing and decorating U.S. embassies, consulates and other facilities.{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Special to THE NEW YORK |title=FEDERAL POSITION FOR MRS. ROBBINS; Widow of Roosevelt Cousin Is Named Assistant Chief of Foreign Service Buildings AN INTERIOR DECORATOR Frederick Larkin, 'Engineer for the Treasury, Becomes Head of the State Department Office |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/08/04/archives/federal-position-for-mrs-robbins-widow-of-roosevelt-cousin-is-named.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=4 August 1937}}{{cite news |last1=Orr |first1=Flora G. |title=A DECORATOR OF EMBASSIES; Mrs. Irene Robbins Will Devise Interiors for Uncle Sam's 200 Buildings Abroad |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/08/22/archives/a-decorator-of-embassies-mrs-irene-robbins-will-devise-interiors.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=22 August 1937}} His widow died in Hyattsville, Maryland in 1960.

=Descendants=

Through his eldest son, he was a grandfather of Elizabeth Robbins Hughes, Warren Delano Robbins III and Katherine Dudley Robbins.{{Cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1979/08/13/112050592.html|title = Obituary 3 -- No Title}}

Through his son Edward, he was a grandfather of Janet Robbins (1936–1941), who died young of polio, Edward Hutchinson Robbins (b.1940){{Cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/07/04/79334027.html|title=Louise Auchincloss Boyer, 59, Side to Rockefeller, Dies in Fall}} and Gordon Auchincloss Robbins (1942–2015), a "sculptor, fly fisherman, nationally ranked board sailor and snowboarder, and coach of Olympic medalists."{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths ROBBINS, GORDON |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9D0CE1D6153AF93BA35750C0A9639D8B63.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=March 8, 2015 |language=en}}

References

;Notes

;Sources

External links

{{Commons category-inline}}
[https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/robbins-warren-delano Warren Delano Robbins (1885–1935)] at Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State
{{find a Grave|20817654}}

{{succession box

| title=United States Envoy to El Salvador

| before=Jefferson Caffery

| after=Charles B. Curtis

| years=27 February 1929–30 April 1931

}}

{{succession box

| title=United States Envoy to Canada

| before=Hanford MacNider

| after=Norman Armour

| years=1933–1935

}}