Joseph de Riquet de Caraman, 17th Prince de Chimay (20 August 1808 – 12 March 1886) was a Belgian diplomat and industrialist.

Early life

Joseph was the eldest son of François Joseph de Riquet de Caraman, prince de Chimay and his wife Thérésa Cabarrus (''Madame Tallien''), one of the leaders of Parisian social life during the Directory.

Career

He led the negotiations which led to a treaty of friendship between the Netherlands and Belgium following

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was King of the Netherlands and List of monarchs of Luxembourg, Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1815 until his abdication in 1840. Born as the son of William V, Prince of Orange, ...

' abjuration, which guaranteed Belgian independence. He also contributed to establishing Belgium's diplomatic relations with the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

, the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

, the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

and the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

. In 1824, he was created Prince of Caraman in the

Dutch nobility The Dutch nobility is a small elite social class consisting of individuals or families recognised as nobility, noble, and with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The existence of nobility was established in the Con ...

In 1852, he acquired the Hôtel de la Pagerie at 17 quai Malaquais, in the

6th arrondissement of Paris The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in ...

, renaming it Hôtel de Chimay. It was sold in 1883 to the

École des beaux-arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

. In 1863, he built a theatre in his

château de Chimay 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 Belgium, designed by Hector-Martin Lefuel and Cambon and inspired by

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

's theatre at the

Palace of Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau ( , ; ), located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. It served as a hunting lodge and summer residence for many of the List of French monarchs ...

. He financed the foundation of Scourmont Abbey on

Chimay Chimay (, ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. In 2006, Chimay had a population of 9,774. The area is 197.10 km2 which gives a population density ...

lands and in 1858 headed the consortium which founded the Compagnie de Chimay, one of the first Belgian railway companies, which built a line linking Chimay to Anor in France and Mariembourg.

Personal life

On 30 August 1830, Joseph married Émilie Pellapra (1806–1871) in Paris. The widow of comte de Brigode, she was the daughter of Françoise-Marie LeRoy and Henri de Pellapra, a wealthy financier, although Émilie claimed to be a daughter of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. Together, Émilie and Joseph had four children: * Marie Thérèse ''Emilie'' de Riquet de Caraman (1832–1851), who married politician

Frédéric Lagrange Frédéric and Frédérick are the French versions of the common male given name Frederick. They may refer to: In artistry: * Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator * Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor * Frédéric Bazille, Impress ...

. * Marie ''Joseph'' Guy Henry Philippe de Riquet de Caraman (1836–1892), who married Marie de Montesquiou-Fezensac in 1857. After her death in 1884, he married Mathilde de Barandiaran in 1889. * Valentine de Riquet de Caraman (1839–1914), who married Prince Paul de Bauffremont, son of Prince Alphonse de Bauffremont, in 1861. They divorced in 1875 and she married Prince Georges Bibescu, a son of the

Prince of Wallachia This is a list of princes of Wallachia, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube until the union with Moldavia in 1859, which unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, led to the creation of ...

Gheorghe Bibescu, in 1875. * Eugène de Riquet de Caraman (1847–1881), who married Louise de Graffenried-Villars. The Prince de Chamay died in London on 12 March 1886.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Joseph, he was a grandfather of Joseph, Prince de Caraman-Chimay (who married, and divorced, American heiress Clara Ward, and Anne Marie Charlotte Amélie Gilone Le Veneur de Tillières), Élisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (who married Henry, Count of Greffulhe), Pierre de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (who married Marthe Mathilde Barbe Werlé and Jeanne Marie Carraby), Ghislaine de Caraman-Chimay (a lady-in-waiting to Elisabeth, Queen of the Belgians), Marie Joséphine de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (who married Charles Camille Pochet), and Alexandre de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (who married Catherine Hélène, Princess Bassaraba de Brancovan, and Mathilde Stuyvesant ( Löwenguth) in 1933, a French widow of an American heir who had previously been married to a Dutch count). Through his youngest son Prince Eugène, he was a grandfather of Countess Emilie de Caraman et Chimay (1871–1944), who married Hungarian diplomat Count Dionys Széchényi, and Countess Hélène de Caraman et Chimay (1864–1902), who married Anglo-Irish diplomat

John Francis Charles, 7th Count de Salis-Soglio John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

References

External lknks

JOSEPH DE RIQUET
at the Online Database voor Intermediaire Structuren {{DEFAULTSORT:Riquet de Caraman, Joseph de 1808 births 1886 deaths

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

19th-century Belgian businesspeople Belgian diplomats