Geneviève d'Ossun née de Gramont (Paris, 1751 – 26 July 1794, Paris) was a French courtier. She served as ''

dame d'atour ''Dame d'atour'' was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. The ''dame d'honneur'' was selected from the members of the highest French nobility. History At least from the Isab ...

'' to the queen of France,

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

, from 1781 until 1791, and as ''

première dame d'honneur ''Première dame d'honneur'' ('first lady of honour'), or simply ''dame d'honneur'' ('lady of honour'), was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. Though the tasks of the post ...

'' from 1791 until 1792.

Life

She was the daughter of Count Antoine-Adrien-Charles de Gramont, the niece of Étienne François de Choiseul, duc de Choiseul, and — through her brother Antoine de Gramont — sister-in-law to Aglaé de Polignac, daughter of

Yolande de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac (8 September 17499 December 1793) was the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette be ...

. She married Marquis Charles d'Ossun, son of Pierre Paul d'Ossun in 1766, and was introduced at court after her wedding.

Court service

On 26 May 1781, she was appointed ''

'' to the queen in succession to Marie-Jeanne de Talleyrand-Périgord, duchesse de Mailly, who retired for health reasons. As ''dame d'atour'', she was the supervisor of the wardrobe and dressing ceremony of the queen. Reportedly, she attempted to subdue the enormous costs of the queen's wardrobe at that time, both by opposing the habit of the fashionable merchants to overcharge the queen, but also by suggesting to Marie Antoinette herself to cut down on her expenses. This was not well received, but she eventually managed to win the queen's confidence. According to French historian and Marie Antoinette biographer,

Pierre de Nolhac Pierre Girault de Nolhac (15 December 1859, Ambert – 31 January 1936, Paris), known as Pierre de Nolhac, was a French historian, art historian and poet. Biography After studying at Le Puy-en-Velay, in Rodez and Clermont-Ferrand, Pierre d ...

, it took some time for Geneviève d'Ossun to win the confidence of Marie Antoinette, as she lacked the beauty and wit of

. She was somewhat of a contrast to the seductiveness of the queen's favorite, but had a solid character and lacked far-reaching ambitions. She eventually managed to convince Marie Antoinette to cut down somewhat on her everyday expenses. She was not rich, but did support herself on her salary. She is not known to have asked for favors, for either herself or others, and was reportedly pleased with being in service of the queen. In 1785, Auguste Marie Raymond d'Arenberg, comte de la Marck, observed in a letter to the Marquis de Mirabeau, that Marie Antoinette often attended intimate suppers, with concert, in the presence of only four or five people at the apartment of Geneviève d'Ossun, and that she was apparently more at ease there than with Yolande de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac.

Revolution

After the

Women's March on Versailles The Women's March on Versailles, also known as the October March, the October Days or simply the March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began among women in the marketplaces ...

, d'Ossun attended court in the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...

from her palace in Rue de Grenelle in Paris. When Laure-Auguste de Fitz-James, princesse de Chimay, emigrated in early 1791, she was promoted to succeed her as ''

''Hardy, B. C. (Blanche Christabel),
The Princesse de Lamballe; a biography
', 1908,

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

and thus formally made second in command of the queen's female courtiers. On 21 June, she was alerted about the

Flight to Varennes The royal Flight to Varennes (french: Fuite à Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant event in the French Revolution in which King Louis XVI of France, Queen Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family unsuccessfull ...

by the queen, and left Paris for her estate in the countryside. She was suspected and questioned for being implicit in the flight, but was acquitted and returned to her court service. d'Ossun lost her position through the abolition of the monarchy, and thereby the royal court and household, following the storming of the Tuileries Palace by armed revolutionaries in the

Insurrection of 10 August 1792 The Insurrection of 10 August 1792 was a defining event of the French Revolution, when armed revolutionaries in Paris, increasingly in conflict with the French monarchy, stormed the Tuileries Palace. The conflict led France to abolish the monar ...

, and returned to private life. During the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

, d'Ossun was arrested and imprisoned at the Maison des Oiseaux. She was charged with conspiracy to conceal the crimes Marie Antoinette had been convicted of and of neglecting to report these crimes. She was called before the court on 25 July and judged guilty as charged. In accordance with the

Law of 22 Prairial The Law of 22 Prairial, also known as the ''loi de la Grande Terreur'', the law of the Great Terror, was enacted on 10 June 1794 (22 Prairial of the Year II under the French Revolutionary Calendar). It was proposed by Georges Auguste Couthon but ...

, she was sentenced to execution by guillotine the following day. According to a co-prisoner, who had not been sentenced to death, she behaved with courage during her trial. The protocol stated: "Age 44, born and resident of Paris, the widow d'Osson, a former noblewoman and Marechale, previously the lady-in-waiting of the widow Capet, was sentenced to death on the 8 Thermidor the Year II in Paris by the Revolutionary Court as conspirator."Liste des guillotinés. Patronymes commençants par G. — GRAMONT (de) Geneviève

References

* La Faye J. de. Amitiés de Reine. P.: Emile-Paul frères, 1910 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gramont d'Ossun, Geneviève de 1751 births 1794 deaths French ladies-in-waiting People executed during the French Revolution Household of Marie Antoinette