Marie Célestine Amélie d'Armaillé (née, de Ségur; known as the Comtesse d'Armaillé; 8 January 1830 – 7 December 1918) was a French writer, biographer, and historian. In 1887, she was a recipient of the

Montyon Prize The Montyon Prize (french: Prix Montyon) is a series of prizes awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie française. They are endowed by the French benefactor Baron de Montyon. History Prior to the start of the French ...

from the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, for the biography, ''Madame Élisabeth, sœur de Louis XVI''. Armaillé died in 1918.

Early life

Marie Célestine Amélie de Ségur (or Célestine Marie Amélie, according to her birth certificate) was born on January 8, 1830, in the former 1st arrondissement of Paris, under the reign of

Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...

. She was the daughter of

Philippe Paul, comte de Ségur Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count o ...

, French general and historian of the Revolution and the Empire, peer of France and academician, and of Célestine Gabrielle de Ventimiglia du Luc.

Career

Faithful to the traditions of her family, she was interested in historical and literary matters. Moreover, she brought together a society that shared her interests. She began to publish in 1864 with a study on the

Queen of France This is a list of the women who were queens or empresses as wives of French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the Third Republic was declared. Living wives of reigning monarchs technica ...

Marie Leszczyńska Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska (; ; 23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768), also known as Marie Leczinska, was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XV from their marriage on 4 September 1725 until her death in 1768. The daughter of Stanis ...

, wife of King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), 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 reache ...

, which earned her the privilege of an article by the French

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

. She then continued with several other works on French noble women:

Catherine de Bourbon Catherine de Bourbon (7 February 1559 – 13 February 1604) was a Navarrese regent princess. She was the daughter of Queen Joan III and King Anthony of Navarre. She ruled the principality of Béarn in the name of her brother, King Henry III ...

, sister of King

Henri IV Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

, in 1865;

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 ...

and her daughter, Marie-Thérèse, in 1870;

Élisabeth of France Élisabeth Philippe Marie Hélène of France (3 May 1764 – 10 May 1794) was a French princess. She was the youngest child of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Duchess Maria Josepha of Saxony, and she was a sister of King Louis XVI. Élisab ...

(known as Madame Elisabeth), in 1886, for which she received an award from the French Academy; Jeanne-Sophie de Vignerot du Plessis (known as

Septimanie d'Egmont Septimanie d'Egmont (née Jeanne Louise Armande Élisabeth Sophie ''Septimanie'' de Vignerot du Plessis) (1740 in Languedoc - 14 October 1773), was a French salonist. Biography Born the daughter of Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, ...

), in 1890; and finally,

Désirée Clary Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary ( sv, Eugenia Bernhardina Desideria; 8 November 1777 – 17 December 1860) was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 5 February 1818 to 8 March 1844 as the wife of King Charles XIV John. Charles John was a former Fre ...

, in 1897. Around the age of 69, she began to evoke the memories of her career through a memoir, voluntarily limiting herself to the first thirty years, from 1830 to 1860.

Personal life

In 1851, she married Louis de La Forest d'Armaillé, Comte d'Armaillé, thus taking the title of "Comtesse d'Armaillé", while also being known as "Marie Célestine Amélie de La Forest d'Armaillé". She was widowed in 1882. Their daughter, Pauline-Célestine-Louise, married Prince Victor de Broglie on September 28, 1871. Pauline and Victor had six children, including

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

(1875–1960), an experimental physicist, and

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

(1892-1987), who would win the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

(1929). The

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

pandemic broke out in 1918 and d'Armaillé died of the consequences of this illness, on 7 December of the same year, then aged 88, in her home in the Square de Messine (now, rue du Docteur-Lancereaux) in the

8th arrondissement of Paris The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' ("the eighth"). The arrondissement, ...

. Her funeral was celebrated on 11 December, in the Saint-Philippe-du-Roule church, in the same arrondissement.

Awards

* 1887,

, for ''Madame Élisabeth, sœur de Louis XVI''

Publications

* 1864, ''La reine Marie Leckzinska, étude historique''
text
* 1865, ''Catherine de Bourbon, soeur de Henri IV, 1559-1604, étude historique''
text
* 1870, ''Marie-Thérèse et Marie-Antoinette''
text
* 1886, ''Madame Élisabeth, soeur de Louis XVI''
text
* 1890, ''La comtesse d'Egmont, fille du maréchal de Richelieu (1740-1773) d'après ses lettres inédites à Gustave III''
text
* 1897, ''Une Fiancée de Napoléon. Désirée Clary, reine de Suède, 1777-1860'' * 1933, ''Souvenirs de jeunesse de la comtesse d’Armaillé, née Ségur'' * 1934, ''Quand on savait vivre heureux (1830-1860)'' * 1934, ''Souvenirs de Célestine de Vintimille'' * 1935, ''Souvenirs d’enfance du général de Ségur'' * 2012, ''Quand on savait vivre heureux (1830-1860)''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armaille, Marie Celestine Amelie d' 1830 births 1918 deaths 19th-century French non-fiction writers 19th-century biographers 19th-century French historians 19th-century French women writers Writers from Paris 19th-century French memoirists French countesses Deaths from Spanish flu