Grimod, Albert Gaspard, comte d'Orsay, d'après Cogiola

Jean-François-Louis-Marie-Albert-Gaspard Grimod (15 June 1772 – 26 December 1843), ''

comte ''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus''). Comte or Comté may refer to: * A count in French, from Latin ''comes'' * A ...

d'Orsay'', was a

Bonapartist Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...

general and nobleman.

Biography

He was the son of the collector Pierre Gaspard Grimod, comte d'Orsay (1748–1809) and his first wife, Princess Marie Louise Amélie de Croÿ-Molembais, (1748–1772), daughter of Prince Guillaume François de Croÿ and Anne Françoise Amélie de Trazegnies. She died in giving birth to him and his father began travelling Europe for consolation, gathering famous paintings and sculptures into a notable collection. He married again, to Princess Marie Anne of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein, on 22 August 1784. The couple moved to Germany in 1787, meaning that - on the outbreak of the French Revolution two years later - Albert's father was declared an ''

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...

'' and their property in France was seized. They were left in the poverty in which Albert's father died. In 1792 Albert married Eleonore Franchi,

Freiin (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

von Franquemont (17 January 1771 - 1833) an

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

daughter of the

reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-prince of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kings, the Franks, List of ...

ing

Duke of Württemberg Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

by the Italian adventuress Anna Eleonora Franchi. Their surviving son became the

dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...

Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, Count d'Orsay Alfred Guillaume Gabriel Grimod d'Orsay, comte d'Orsay (4 September 18014 August 1852) was a French amateur artist, dandy, and man of fashion in the early- to mid-19th century. Biography He was born in Paris, the second son of Albert Gaspard Gr ...

. Their daughter Ida Grimaud d'Orsay married Antoine, 9th duc de Gramont in 1818, and became mother of Antoine, 10th duc de Gramont, a lover of Marie Duplessis, on whose life was based the ''

roman à clef ''Roman à clef'' (, anglicised as ), French for ''novel with a key'', is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship be ...

'', ''

La Dame aux camélias LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'', by Dumas, ''fils''. He became a

Général de brigade Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's Grande Armée on 19 November 1813, a year before Napoleon's abdication and first exil

It is unknown what role he played in the previous and subsequent events of the Napoleonic Wars, or whether he supported Napoleon during the Hundred Days or at Waterloo, but he did survive the wars to see the Bourbon Restoration and the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 F ...

, dying five years before the end of the latter. He was sold the chateau at Rupt-sur-Saône (then state property) in 182

External links

A letter from him to Napoleon
(fro
here
Counts of the First French Empire Counts of Orsay 1772 births 1843 deaths {{France-noble-stub