Arthur de Pourtalès, Count de Pourtalès-Gorgier (31 August 1844 – 1928) was a Swiss-French diplomat.

Early life

Pourtalès was born in

Gorgier Gorgier is a former municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Bevaix, Saint-Aubin-Sauges, Gorgier, Vaumarcus, Montalchez and Fresens merged into the new munic ...

in the

Canton of Neuchâtel The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (; ; ; ) is a mostly French-speaking canton in western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (or 23.4%) were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel. History County of Neuchâtel ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

on 31 August 1844. He was a son of Anne Marie, Countess d'Escherny (1820–1901) and Henri, Count de Pourtalès-Gorgier (1815–1876), the last

Lord of Gorgier Gorgier is a former municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Bevaix, Saint-Aubin-Sauges, Gorgier, Vaumarcus, Montalchez and Fresens merged into the new munic ...

. Among his siblings were sisters Marie de Pourtalès (who became a Countess of the Charité de Saint-Vincent de Paul), Émilie de Pourtalès (the wife of Baron Étienne Renouard de Bussière), and Louise de Pourtalès (wife of Count Raymond Charles de Geoffre de Chabrignac). His paternal grandparents were the former Anne Henriette de Palézieux-Falconnet (niece of

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

William Hunter) and

James-Alexandre de Pourtalès James-Alexandre de Pourtalès, Comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier (28 November 1776 – 24 March 1855) was a Swiss-French banker, diplomat and art collector. Early life The Count de Pourtalès was born in Neuchâtel, then in the Principality of Neuch� ...

, a Swiss-French banker, diplomat and art collector who built the Pourtalès mansion and served as chamberlain to the

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

Frederick William III Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved. ...

. His grandfather acquired the

seigneury A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal system, feudal title in Ancien Régime, France before the French Revolution, Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owne ...

, including the

Château de Gorgier A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

, in 1813 as well as the Château de Bandeville and Château de Luins. Among his large extended family was aunt Élisa Calixte de Pourtalès (wife of Charles-Alexandre, Marquis de Ganay) uncle Edmond de Pourtalès (husband to Mélanie (née de Bussière) de Pourtalès,

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

Empress The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Eugénie, wife of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

Career

Pourtalès succeeded his father as the 3rd Count de Pourtalès on 31 July 1876. Throughout his diplomatic career, he served in various roles, including as the French

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

in England, and the Secretary to the French legation in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and in

Buitenzorg Bogor City (), or Bogor (, ), is a landlocked city in the West Java, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. He also served as the Minister Plenipotentiary of France to Guatemala.

Personal life

Pourtalès was twice married to American heiresses. His first marriage was to Jenny Lind Holladay (1851–1873) on 6 December 1869 at the

. Jennie's father,

Ben Holladay Benjamin Holladay (October 14, 1819 – July 8, 1887) was an American transportation businessman responsible for creating the Overland Stage to California during the height of the 1849 California Gold Rush. He created a stagecoach empire and ...

, owned the

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. During its 18 months of opera ...

and created an overland stagecoach route during the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, earning him the nickname "Stagecoach King." Jennie's sister Cassandra married Baron Henri de Bussière (a relative of his aunt

Mélanie de Pourtalès Mélanie de Pourtalès, Countess Edmond de Pourtalès (''née'' Louise Sophie Mélanie Renouard de Bussière) (26 March 1836 – 5 May 1914) was a French ''salonnière'' and courtier. Early life She was born on 26 March 1836 at the Château de Ro ...

). Before her death on a train on 15 May 1873, they were the parents of one daughter: * Marie Pauline Louise "Jenny" de Pourtalès (1871–1912), who married Antoine Grubissich de Keresztúr in Japan in 1898. He later became the first secretary to the Austrian legion of the

Austrian-Hungarian empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

and later

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

. After his wife's death in 1873, while in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, he met and became engaged to

Marie Boozer Marie Boozer (18461908) was an American socialite and French countess. From provincial Antebellum South, antebellum South Carolina, she escaped with the Union (American Civil War), Union army to New York and ascended into high society. After her ...

(1852–1908), a stepdaughter of David Boozer and the former wife of John S. Beecher, with whom she had a son, John Preston Beecher (later the U.S. Vice Consul in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

and Consul at

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...

). Marie was also, purportedly, the lover of Union Gen.

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (January 14, 1836 – December 4, 1881) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, achieving the rank of Major general (United States), major general. He was later the United States Ambassador, Minister ...

. They were married on 2 May 1876. After their wedding, they went to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

where they were entertained by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

John Pope Hennessy Sir John Pope Hennessy (; 8 August 1834 – 7 October 1891), was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator who served as the eighth Governor of Hong Kong and the fifteenth Governor of Mauritius. Early life John Pope Henness ...

before returning to France. She claimed to be a daughter of Beauvar-Boosier, Esq. of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Actually her natural father was Peter Burton of Columbia, South Carolina. The Countess de Pourtalès died 25 January 1908 at their twenty-five room Villa Terrarossa near

Toscana Tuscany ( ; ) is a region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high cu ...

, just three miles from

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in Italy. Count de Pourtalès died twenty years later in 1928.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pourtalès, Arthur de 1844 births 1928 deaths French diplomats Pourtalès Pourtalès family