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Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance (Greek: Δούκισσα της Πλακεντίας) (1785–1854) was a French noblewoman, known as an important figure in Greek high society the first decades after Greek independence. She was born in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, where her father,
François Barbé-Marbois François, marquis de Barbé-Marbois (31 January 1745 – 12 February 1837) was a French civil servant, diplomat, and politician. He was ambassador of France to the United States (1784–1785), where he married the daughter of the Governor ...
, was serving as
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
Consul-General in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.


Life


Early life

In 1802, Sophie married Anne-Charles Lebrun, the eldest son of
Charles-François Lebrun Charles-François Lebrun, 1st duc de Plaisance (, 19 March 1739 – 16 June 1824) was a French statesman who served as Third Consul of the French Republic and was later created Arch-Treasurer by Napoleon I. Biography ''Ancien Régime'' ...
later duc de Plaisance (this last one who along with
Napoleon Bonaparte 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 ...
had served as one of three
Consuls A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...
of France from 1799 to 1804). The marriage was unhappy and the couple separated without ever taking divorce; Sophie lived in Italy while the duke served as the governor of Holland from 1811 to 1813.


Greek War of Independence

Upon the outbreak of the
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...
, the Duchess and her daughter generously supported the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
cause and in 1830, they moved to
Nafplion Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages du ...
, the capital of Greece at that time and she was reacquainted with the Greek leader
Ioannis Kapodistrias Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (; February 1776 –27 September 1831), sometimes anglicized as John Capodistrias, was a Greek statesman who was one of the most distinguished politicians and diplomats of 19th-century Europe. Kapodistrias's ...
whom she had met in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1826. She became an ardent financial supporter of public education. Eventually, she became an opponent of Kapodistrias, and after a 17-month stay, she left for Italy. When Kapodistrias was assassinated by
Konstantinos Mavromichalis Konstantinos Mavromichalis (; Mani, 1797–Nafplio, 1831), brother of the Bey of Mani, Petros Mavromichalis, was a Greek military commander of Maniot forces during the Greek War of Independence, and the assassin of the first head of state o ...
and his nephew Georgios Mavromichalis, she spoke out against the way Kapodistrias had run the Greek government.


Life in Athens

In 1834, the Duchess returned to Greece and settled in the new capital
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. She purchased large amounts of agricultural land chiefly near Mt. Penteli, but all around Athens. She engaged the Greek architect,
Stamatios Kleanthis Stamatios "Stamatis" Kleanthis (; 1802–1862) was a Greek architect. Biography Stamatios Kleanthis was born to a Macedonian Greek family in the town of Velventos in Kozani, Macedonia in 1802. As a youth he moved to Bucharest where he stu ...
to design a palace for her on the slopes of Mt. Penteli called
Rododafni Castle Rododafni castle () is a palace in Penteli, Greece. It is located on the Lord Byron street () on the slope of mount Pentelicus. It was intended as a summer residence for Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance and is designed in a neo ...
. Meanwhile, in 1836, the Duchess and her daughter traveled to
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, where Eliza died of pneumonia. Such was the sorrow of the Duchess that she had her daughter's body embalmed and returned to Athens where it was placed in a crypt under her temporary home on
Peiraios Street Peiraios Street (, ''Odos Peiraios'') is a main road in Athens, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to ...
. Kleanthis completed the Tower of the Duchess of Plaisance in 1841 and then set to work on , which was completed in 1848. Today the Villa Illisia is the site of the Byzantine Museum. A central fixture in the social life of Othonian Athens, the Duchess would host symposia on various topics of religion and politics in her palace. She was also known to dole out funds and titles of courtesy to those whom she found favorable. Something of an iconoclast, the Duchess rejected the prevailing faith,
Greek Orthodoxy Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Roma ...
, and instead converted to
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
. She sponsored the reconstruction of a Jewish synagogue in Halkida in 1849. Later in life, she commissioned Kleanthis to begin the construction of a final home and resting place for her beloved daughter's remains, the Castle of Rododafni. She would never live to see the house completed. In 1847, it caught fire and was burned to the ground. After that, the Duchess withdrew from public life only agreeing to see her old friend, Fotini Mavromichali,
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 ...
for Queen consort
Amalia of Oldenburg Amalia of Oldenburg (; 21 December 181820 May 1875) was a Oldenburg princess who became Queen of Greece from 1836 to 1862 as the wife of King Otto Friedrich Ludwig. She was loved widely by the Greeks due to her patriotic love for the count ...
. She was described by the diarist Christiane Lüth who became her neighbor in 1842: :"On one side of us lived the French duchess de Plaisance, an eccentric lady, rich, divorced from her husband and neither Jew nor Christian. She had created her own faith, which she had printed in French and handed out to people. We were also given a copy. She had but one daughter, who died, when she was sixteen, and the mother placed her remains in alcohol in a great glass jar which she placed in a room of her basement, which she visited in order to remember her daughter. ..Some years later the duchess' house caught fire and she visited one neighbor after another and asked them passionately to save the corpse in exchange for a great reward, but no one wished to venture down there, so it was burnt. She had six big white furry dogs, who accompanied her everywhere, also when she went driving, some of them in her back seat and the rest following behind. She was always dressed in white, draped in a big shawl, from which her pale yellow face and her big black eyes peered out. It was foretold that she would die after having finished building a house, and she therefore left those she built unfinished. ..She never gave to beggars: „Je suis généreux, mais je ne donne pas des aumônes“, she said."Lüth C.
Fra Fredensborg til Athen: Fragment af en Kvindes Liv
'. Copenhagen; Gyldendalske;1926.
She died in 1854 and her nephew sold her lands to the Greek state. She is buried with her daughter in her Tower near Penteli.


Legacy

Today an
Athens Metro The Athens Metro () is a rapid transit system serving the Athens urban area in Greece. Line 1 opened as a single-track conventional steam railway in 1869 and was electrified in 1904. Beginning in 1991, Elliniko Metro S.A. constructed and ext ...
station, built on her original lands, is named Doukissis Plakentias station (''Δουκίσσης Πλακεντίας'').


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plaisance, Duchess Of 1785 births 1854 deaths 18th-century converts to Judaism 19th-century converts to Judaism Socialites from Philadelphia Philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence 19th-century Greek people French expatriates in Greece Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism 19th-century Greek women