Mélanie de Pourtalès, Countess Edmond de Pourtalès (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' 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 Robertsau in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, to the former Sophie Mélanie de Coehoorn (1802–1880), and

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Alfred Renouard de Bussière (1804–1887), who was from a wealthy

industrial family. He was director of the Royal Mint of Strasbourg from 1834 to 1860, before being appointed head of the Royal Mint of Paris. Her paternal grandparents were Athanase Paul Renouard, Vicomte de Bussière and the former Friederike Wilhelmine von Franck. Her uncle was Léon Renouard de Bussierre. Her maternal grandparents were Louis Jacques, Baron de Coehoorn and the former Marie Margarethe Sophie von Beyer.

Courtier

She was introduced to the French imperial court by the Austrian ambassador, Richard von Metternich, and appointed as

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 ...

to the empress,

Eugénie de Montijo Eugénie de Montijo (; born María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920) was Second French Empire, Empress of the French from her marriage to Napoleon III on 30 January 1853 until he was overthrown on 4 ...

, the 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 ...

.Robert Grossmann: Comtesse de Pourtalès. (Une cour française dans l'Alsace impériale 1836 – 1870 – 1914). Préface de Philippe Séguin. La Nuée Bleue, Strasbourg 1995, . Pourtalès'

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

was regarded as one of the most famed during the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

, when she was one of the leading figures in Parisian high society and imperial court life. In her letters, she writes about the pending marriage of

Antonin-Just-Léon-Marie de Noailles Antoine Just Léon Marie de Noailles (19 April 1841 in Paris – 2 February 1909) 9th prince de Poix, from (1846) 6th duc espagnol de Mouchy, 5th duc français de Mouchy et duc de Poix, from 1854, was a French nobleman. Son of Charles-Philippe ...

Duc de Mouchy Duke of Mouchy () was a hereditary title in the peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1747 by Ferdinand VI to Philippe de Noailles, a French military officer. After failure of the 1st Duke's successors in inheri ...

to the Princess Anne Murat, daughter of Prince Lucien Murat and granddaughter of the

King of Naples The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first Sicilian Vespers, separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501) House of Anjou ...

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...

and Queen Caroline (younger sister of the Emperor

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 ...

). According to French writer

Alfred Mézières Alfred Jean François Mézières (19 November 1826, in Réhon – 10 October 1915, in Réhon) was a French journalist, politician and historian of literature. Biography Alfred Mézières was educated at Metz College and the École Normale Supér ...

, "three people saw clearly what was coming before

1870 Events January * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge be ...

, Lieutenant-Colonel Stoffel, General Ducrot, and Madame de Pourtalès."

Personal life

On 30 June 1857, she married banker

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Edmond de Pourtalès (1828–1895), a son of Count

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� ...

of 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 ...

, a prominent banker and art collector who had served as chamberlain 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. ...

. Count Edmond's elder sister, Élisa de Pourtalès was the wife of French diplomat Charles-Alexandre, Marquis de Ganay. Together, they were the parents of: * Jacques de Pourtalès (1858–1919), who married Jacqueline Conquerré de Montbrison (1871–1925), later the Countess Wladimir Rehbinder after their divorce. * Paul de Pourtalès (1859–1933), a Saint-Cyrien, politician and head of the

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (, ) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for ...

. * ''Hubert'' Louis Edmond de Pourtalès (1863–1949), who married Marguerite de Schickler (1870–1956), a daughter of Arthur, Baron von Schickler. Hubert owned Château Martinvast in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, the "most famous racing establishment and stud farm in France." * Élisabeth de Pourtalès (1867–1952), who married Christian Egenolf François, Baron de Berckheim (1853–1935), a grandson of the Marquis de Jaucourt, in 1886. * Mélanie ''Agnès'' de Pourtalès (1870–1930), who in 1890 married the equally wealthy Henri, Marquis de Löys-Chandieu, who had been engaged to

Victoria Sackville-West Victoria Josefa Dolores Catalina Sackville-West, Baroness Sackville (23 September 1862 – 30 January 1936) was a British noblewoman and mother of the writer, poet, and gardener Vita Sackville-West. Early life Victoria was one of seven ...

before her marriage to

Baron Sackville Baron Sackville, of Knole in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1876 for the Honourable Mortimer Sackville-West, with remainder, failing heirs male of his body, to his younger brothers the Hon. ...

. The Count de Pourtalès died in 1895. The Countess died on 5 May 1914. After her death, her daughter Agnès inherited the Château de la Robertsau.

Residences

From her father, she inherited the family's château, the Château de la Robertsau (which today is known as the

Château de Pourtalès Château de Pourtalès (or Château de Robertsau) is a château situated in the Robertsau district of Strasbourg, France. It's dated to the 18th century and named after the Pourtalès family. History The Château de Pourtalès was built around ...

) in the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. At their château, they hosted

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

Napoléon 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 ...

Empress Eugénie 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 ...

, the Princes of Belgium and Russia,

Ludwig I of Bavaria Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the German revolutions of 1848–49, 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As ki ...

, the

Grand Duke of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a margravi ...

and the Princess Metternich. Her husband inherited the Pourtalès mansion, a

hôtel particulier () is the French term for a grand urban mansion, comparable to a Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...

(essentially a grand townhouse) on Rue Tronchet in the

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

that was built for his father between 1838 and 1839 by

Félix Duban Jacques Félix Duban () (14 October 1798, Paris – 8 October 1870, Bordeaux) was a French architect, the contemporary of Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Henri Labrouste. Life and career Duban won the Prix de Rome in 1823, the most prestigious awa ...

Descendants

Through her youngest daughter Agnès, she was a grandmother of Edmée de Loys-Chandieu (1892–1945), who married Alexander, Count of Hoyos, son of Georg Anton, Count of Hoyos and the former Alice Whitehead (daughter of British engineer Robert Whitehead). Alexander's aunt, Marguerite, was married to

Herbert von Bismarck Nikolaus Heinrich Ferdinand Herbert, Prince of Bismarck (born Nikolaus Heinrich Ferdinand Herbert Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen; 28 December 1849 – 18 September 1904) was a German politician, who served as Foreign Secretary from 1886 to 1890. ...

, the eldest son of Chancellor

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

. Edmée's daughter, Melanie Hoyos, also married a member of the Bismarck family, Count Gottfried von Bismarck-Schönhausen, and their descendants include

Stephanie zu Guttenberg Stephanie Anna Charlotte von Bismarck-Schönhausen (former Buhl-Freifrau von und zu Guttenberg; 24 November 1976 in Munich) is a German activist, host of podcast 'How Do We Manage?', public speaker, entrepreneur and author in the field of child ...

. ;Gallery File:Renoir - Condessa de Pourtalès.jpg, ''Portrait of Comtesse de Pourtalès'' by

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

, 1877 File:Portrait of Hubert de Pourtalès.jpg, Portrait of her son, Count Hubert de Pourtalès, by Marguerite Schickler de Pourtalès, 1892 File:Portrait présumé de Marguerite de Schickler, comtesse Hubert de Pourtalès.jpg, Portrait of her daughter-in-law, Marguerite, Comtesse Hubert de Pourtalès, by Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer File:Agnès de Pourtalès, marquise de Loys-Chandieu.jpg, Her daughter, Agnès de Pourtalès, Marquise de Loys-Chandieu, by

Ernest Hébert Antoine Auguste Ernest Hébert (; 3 November 1817 – 5 December 1908) was a French academic painter. Biography Hébert was born in Grenoble, son of a notary in Grenoble, and moved in 1835 to Paris to study law. He simultaneously took ar ...

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

Mélanie de Bussière, Countess de Pourtalès (1836-1914), Wife of Count Edmond de Pourtalès
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pourtales, Melanie de 1836 births 1914 deaths Pourtalès family French ladies-in-waiting French salon-holders Nobility of the Second French Empire People from Strasbourg