Alexandre Florian Joseph, Count Colonna-Walewski (; pl, Aleksander Florian Józef Colonna-Walewski; 4 May 181027 September 1868), was a Polish and French politician and diplomat, best known for his position as Foreign Minister of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

under

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and for his diplomatic efforts presiding the

Congress of Paris The Congress of Paris is the name for a series of diplomatic meetings held in 1856 in Paris, France, to negotiate peace between the warring powers in the Crimean War that had started almost three years earlier."Paris, Treaty of (1856)". The New E ...

that created peace in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

and laid the base for modern international law of the sea with the Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law.

Early years

Walewski was born at Walewice, near

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

from Countess Marie Walewska and her husband Athanasius, Count Walewski. He was rumoured to be the unacknowledged son of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, although Athanasius legally acknowledged him as his own son. In 2013, published scholarship comparing DNA haplotype evidence taken from Emperor Napoleon, from his brother King Jérôme Bonaparte's descendant

Charles, Prince Napoléon Charles, Prince Napoléon (''Charles Marie Jérôme Victor Napoléon''; born 19 October 1950 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France) is a French politician, who is the disputed head of the Imperial House of France and as such, heir to the rights and le ...

and from Colonna-Walewski's descendant indicated Alexandre's membership in the genetic male-line of the imperial House of Bonaparte. Aged fourteen, Walewski refused to join the Imperial Russian army and fled to London, thence to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

where the French government refused

Tsar Alexander I Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of G ...

's demands for his extradition to Russia. Upon the accession of Louis-Philippe d'Orléans to the French throne in 1830, Walewski was dispatched to Poland, later the same year being entrusted by the leaders of the Polish November Uprising of 1830 as a diplomatic envoy to the Court of St James's. After the Fall of Warsaw, he took out letters of French naturalization and joined the

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

, being in action in Algeria as a captain in the '' Chasseurs d'Afrique'' of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

. In 1837 he resigned his commission to begin writing plays and working as a journalist for

the press ''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...

. He is said to have collaborated with the elder Dumas on ''Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle'' and a comedy of his, ''L'Ecole du monde'', was produced at the '' Theâtre Français'' in 1840.

Diplomatic career

Comte Walewski Congrès de Paris 1856 BNF Gallica

Later that year the prime minister of France Thiers, also a man of letters, became patron to one of Walewski's papers, '' Le Messager des Chambres'', before sending him on a mission to Egypt. Under Guizot's government Walewski was posted to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

to liaise with the British ambassador,

John Cradock, 1st Baron Howden General John Francis Cradock, 1st Baron Howden (11 August 175926 July 1839) was a British peer, politician and soldier. Life He was son of John Cradock, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. In 1775 he was admitted to St John's College, Ca ...

. Prince Louis Napoleon's accession to power in France as Napoleon III furthered his career with postings as envoy extraordinary to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

and the Kingdom of Naples before

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(1851–55), where he was charged with announcing the ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

'' to the prime minister,

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

. In 1855, Walewski succeeded Drouyn de Lhuys as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

and he acted as President of, and French

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

at the

the following year, leading to peace in the

and to the Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law. The latter treaty did contain an important novelty in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, creating the possibility for nations that were not involved in the establishment of the agreement, to become a party by acceding the Declaration afterwards. As foreign minister, Walewski advocated a de-escalating strategy towards Russia, known as ''entente'', opposing his emperor's strategy in Italy which led to war with Austria in 1859. After leaving the Foreign Ministry in 1860 he became France's

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

, an office which he held until 1863. He served as senator from 1855 to 1865, before being appointed to the ''

Corps Législatif The was a part of the French legislature during the French Revolution and beyond. It is also the generic French term used to refer to any legislative body. History The Constitution of the Year I foresaw the need for a ''corps législatif''. ...

'' in 1865 and as president of the Chamber of Deputies by the Emperor, who returned him to the Senate after a revolt against his authority two years later. Walewski was made a duke in 1866, was elected a member of the ''

Académie des beaux-arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

'', appointed

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the ''

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

'' and made a Knight of Malta, also receiving the Gold Cross of ''

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

''. Alexandre Walewski died of a stroke at Strasbourg on 27 September 1868 and is buried at

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

in Paris.

Descendants

He married on 1 December 1831 Lady Catherine Montagu (1808–1833), daughter of George, 6th Earl of Sandwich by his wife Lady Louisa Lowry-Corry. Following her death, he married secondly, on 4 June 1846 in Florence, Maria Anna, daughter of the

Papal Count The papal nobility are the aristocracy of the Holy See, composed of persons holding titles bestowed by the Pope. From the Middle Ages into the nineteenth century, the papacy held direct temporal power in the Papal States, and many titles of papal ...

Zanobi di Ricci by his wife Princess Isabella Poniatowski. He also fathered a son by the actress

Rachel Felix Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

in 1844. He had seven children, two from his first marriage, four from his second marriage, and one with a woman he wasn't married to. *By Lady Catherine Montagu (both died young): **Louise-Marie Colonna-Walewska. **''Comte'' Georges-Edouard-Auguste Colonna-Walewski. *By Maria Anna di Ricci (1823–1912): **Isabel Colonna-Walewski (born

in 1847; she died an infant and is buried in

La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, ...

). **''Comte'' Charles Walewski (1848–1916), married Félice Douay (died 1952); no children. **Elise Colonna-Walewski (died 1927) married Félix, ''Comte'' de Bourqueney; leaving issue. **Eugénie Colonna-Walewski (died 1884), married ''Comte'' Frédéric Mathéus; leaving issue. *By

: **Alexandre-Antoine Colonna-Walewski, (recognized 1844 and adopted by Walewski in 1860); has numerous surviving descendants.

Ancestry

Works

*''Un mot sur la question d'Afrique'', Paris 1837 *''L'Alliance Anglaise'', Paris 1838 *''L'École du Monde, ou la Coquette sans le savoir'' (comedy), Paris 1840

References

*Simon Konarski, ''Armorial de la noblesse polonaise titrée'', Paris 1958 *''Nouvelle Biographie Générale'', Tome 46, Paris 1866

External links

Walewski.org
Walewski family foundation

Genealogy entry

Photograph

at Newberry Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonna-Walewski, Alexandre 1810 births 1868 deaths People from Łowicz County Counts of Poland Counts Colonna-Walewski Princes Colonna-Walewski 19th-century French diplomats French Foreign Ministers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom November Uprising participants Polish emigrants to France Officers of the French Foreign Legion Illegitimate children of Napoleon Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari Knights of Malta

Alexandre Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name "Alexandre (disambiguation) Alexandre may re ...

State ministers of France