Curtis Roosevelt

Curtis Roosevelt Dall was born on April 19, 1930, in New York City. He was the son of Anna Roosevelt and her first husband, Curtis Bean Dall. Dall was the eldest grandchild of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

In his early childhood, Dall, his sister Eleanor (born 1927), and his mother moved into the White House when he was three years old, residing there until his mother remarried in 1935. Following his parents' divorce in 1934, his mother married journalist Clarence John Boettiger in 1935. Dall had a younger half-brother, John, born in 1939. After his mother's and Boettiger's divorce in 1949, Eleanor Roosevelt and Anna Roosevelt decided that Curtis should not assume the surname Dall; instead, he used his middle name, Roosevelt, as his surname.

Dall completed his education at the Northwestern Military and Naval Academy in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He later attended Loyola University in Los Angeles. His marital history includes four marriages: first to Robin H. Edwards on May 23, 1950, with whom he had a daughter, Julianna Edwards Roosevelt; they divorced in March 1954. He then married Ruth W. Sublette on March 6, 1955, followed by Jeanette Schlottman on May 2, 1961. His fourth marriage was to Marina Ayers Jones in 1985. He had one grandson, Nicholas Roosevelt, Julianna's son.

In the mid-1950s, Dall served as a private in the United States Army. Between 1956 and 1964, he worked in advertising and with nonprofit institutions. His roles included regional director for the National Citizens Council for Better Schools and vice president in charge of public affairs for the New School for Social Research. From 1963 to 1964, Dall was the executive director of the United States Committee for the United Nations.

In 1964, Dall was recruited by the United Nations Secretariat's Public Information Department. He held various positions within the organization until 1983, continuing his career in international civil service. He earned a master's degree from the School of Government and Public Law at Columbia University.

From 1983 to 1986, Dall served as principal at Dartington College of Arts in Devon, England. He was also a visiting professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, a for-profit institution. In 2010, he received an honorary doctorate from this institution.

In 1987, Dall and his wife Marina moved to Deia, Mallorca. There, he engaged in pottery, with some of his work exhibited in a gallery in Palma. He also contributed writings on American politics to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

His notable publication, "Too Close to the Sun: Growing up in the Shadow of my Grandparents Franklin and Eleanor," was released in 2008. The book resulted in radio and television appearances. In 2012, a French translation was published. Dall’s residence was in a small village in southern France, where Marina served on the municipal council. He lectured at Lille University and appeared on French television. His articles also appeared in publications such as Le Figaro, the International Herald Tribune, La Tribune, France-Amerique, Marianne, and Le Commune de la Commune.

Due to his familial connections, Dall was often consulted by the Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park and the National Park Service regarding exhibits and historic sites such as Springwood and Val-Kill. In 2013, he authored an e-book titled "Eyewitness in Israel: 1948," recounting his journey to Israel at the age of 18, when he was sent by Eleanor Roosevelt to report on the nascent state.

His final book, published in early 2016, was a collection of essays about the Roosevelt family titled "Upstairs at the Roosevelts: Growing Up with Franklin and Eleanor." Curtis Roosevelt Dall died on September 26, 2016, at the age of 86, in Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard from a heart attack.

**Selected Bibliography:**

- "Too Close to the Sun: Growing Up in the Shadow of my Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor," 2008.

- "Eyewitness in Israel: 1948," self-published e-book, 2013.

- "Upstairs at the Roosevelts," 2017.