Marie Pauline Cécile Carnot née Dupont-White (20 July 1841 – 30 September 1898) was the wife of

Marie François Sadi Carnot Marie François Sadi Carnot (; 11 August 1837 – 25 June 1894) was a French statesman, who served as the President of France from 1887 until his assassination in 1894. Early life Marie François Sadi Carnot was the son of the statesman Hippo ...

, the

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

from 1887 until his assassination in 1894.

Life and work

Known as Cécile, she was born in the sixth

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the daughter of Charles Brook Dupont-White and Cécile Olympe Corbie. Her father was an economist. Cécile married

in 1863."In the Public Eye"
''Munsey's Magazine'' (October 1895): 38. Sadi and Cécile Carnot had four children together: Claire (who would marry Paul Cunisset ), Sadi, Ernest and François. The couple is particularly united and no extra-marital relationship is attributed to them. Cécile Carnot often advises her husband in politics. As the wife of the president, Cécile Carnot devoted a lot of her time to representation in public and entertaining at the Presidential Palace. She hosted three balls annually and arranged garden parties at which she introduced tennis. She regarded representation as an important part of the political career for her spouse. In 1889 she introduced the annual Christmas dinner for poor children, and it became a tradition and has been held ever since. She played a political role when she negotiated with

Georges Ernest Boulanger Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (29 April 1837 – 30 September 1891), nicknamed Général Revanche ("General Revenge"), was a French general and politician. An enormously popular public figure during the second decade of the Third Repub ...

, preventing a coup. After her husband's assassination, she lived in seclusion. She had four children, a daughter Claire and three sons,

Sadi Saadi, Sadī, Sadi, or SADI may refer to: People * Sadi (name) * Saadi dynasty, a dynasty of Morocco Places * Sədi, village in Azerbaijan * Sadi, East Azerbaijan, a village in Iran * Sadi, Marand, a village in Iran * Sadi, Kerman, a village in ...

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman ...

, and

François François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

. She died of heart disease at the Château de Presles de Cerny, on 30 September 1898, at the age of 57, four years after her husband. Unable to join him in the Pantheon, she is buried in the cemetery of Passy.

Honors

* Poet George Williamson wrote a poem, "To Mme Sadi Carnot, On the Death of her Husband, Late President of France" (1894). * A variety of rose was named in her memory.Brent C. Dickerson
''The Old Rose Advisor''
(iUniverse 2001): 630.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnot, Cecile 1841 births 1898 deaths Spouses of presidents of France