José Ramiro de la Puente y González Nandín, Marqués de Alta Villa sometimes Altavilla (28 April 1845 in Reina del Bétis, Séville – 16 December 1909 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

) was a Spanish grande and writer on Madrid, exiled for much of the later part of his life in Paris.

Exile in Paris

He acquired the château of Savigny-sur-Orge on the death of the former owner maréchale Davout, and there received from 1869 to 1876 the court of

Isabella II Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...

in exile. He also frequented the Queen's own property, the former Hôtel Basilewski on avenue Kléber, renamed the Palais de Castille, which was the centre of the Bourbon Spanish exile community in Paris. Increasingly he came to serve as a powerful secretary to the exiled court of Queen. It was during this period, he became interested in various topics such as agricultural science, opera singing, as well as continuing more conventional aristocratic pursuits such as fencing and hunting. The Queen returned to Spain in 1874-1876 following the Bourbon restoration of her son

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 188 ...

but Alta Villa continued to serve the Queen in Paris. He was granted the papal title of marchese de Alta Villa del

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrat hills. Beyond the river lies the v ...

Piedmont, on October 9, 1880.

Fencing

He was a noted fencer and '' espadachín''José del Corral -''Casas madrileñas desaparecidas: misterios, amores e intrigas'' 2004 - Page 142 "Y también, aunque eso nada tenga que ver ahora, cierto caballerete, gran esgrimidor y conocido espadachín que, por gracia de Isabel ... del que se cuentan cosas más que divertidas y que murió de gerente del cementerio de la Patriarcal," and wrote the preface for C. Leon Broutin's guide ''El arte de la esgrima'' of 1894.

Music

He took music lessons from Giovanni Lucantoni and singing lessons from

Anna de La Grange Anna de La Grange de Stankowitch (1825–1905) was a French coloratura soprano. She was one of the most noted opera singers of the nineteenth century, a protégée of Rossini and Meyerbeer, and played Violetta in the American premiere of Verdi's ...

and Madame Ferrari.

Works

* Don Ramiro de la Puente y González Nandín. ''Guía oficial de España'' 1904

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alta Villa, Ramiro 1845 births 1909 deaths People from Seville 19th-century Spanish writers 19th-century male writers Spanish male fencers