Marie Louis Jean Jay Georges Paul Ernest Boniface, Marquis de Castellane (17 January 1897 – 5 February 1946), was a French nobleman and diplomat.
Boniface de Castellane | |
|---|---|
| Marquis de Castellane | |
| Born | Marie Louis Jean Jay Georges Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane January 17, 1897 Paris, Île-de-France, France |
| Died | 5 February 1946 (aged 49) Paris, Île-de-France, France |
| Noble family | Castellane |
| Spouse(s) |
Yvonne Patenôtre
(m. 1921; div. 1946) |
| Issue | Raymonde de Castellane Pauline de Castellane Elisabeth de Castellane |
| Father | Boni de Castellane |
| Mother | Anna Gould |
Early life
editHe was the eldest son of American railroad heiress Anna Gould and Boni de Castellane, who was known as a leading Belle Époque tastemaker.[1] Among his siblings were Georges de Castellane (who married Florinda Fernández Anchorena, owner of the Fernández Anchorena Palace in Buenos Aires) and Jason "Jay" de Castellane.[2] His parents divorced in 1906 after his father had spent about $10 million of her family's money,[3] and his mother remarried to Boni's cousin Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Sagan (son of the Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord), [4] with whom she had two more children, Howard de Talleyrand-Périgord (who committed suicide in 1929),[5][6] and Hélène Violette de Talleyrand-Périgord (who married Count James Robert de Pourtalès and Gaston Palewski).[1]
His paternal grandparents were Antoine de Castellane, a deputy for Cantal, and Madeleine Le Clerc de Juigné. His maternal grandparents were the American railroad magnate and financial speculator, Jay Gould, and Helen Day Miller. His niece, Diane de Castellane, married Philippe de Noailles, Duke of Mouchy.[1]
Career
editUpon the death of his father in Paris on 20 October 1932, he succeeded him as the Marquis de Castellane.[1]
A diplomat during World War II, he was serving as the Second Secretary of the Embassy of France, London at the time of France's collapse during the invasion of the Nazis in 1940. During that summer, he was made Chargé d'affaires of the Embassy following the retirement of the other French diplomats. In response to the shelling of French ships at Oran, Algeria by British squadron, Castellane called Viscount Halifax, then Foreign Secretary, on 8 July 1940 requesting "the passports of the French diplomats in England. On July 19 nearly 1,500 French diplomats, other officials and soldiers left London for France, headed by the Marquis."[7]
Personal life
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On 6 January 1921, while still known as the Count of Castellane, he was married to Yvonne Constance Patenôtre (1896–1981), in Paris with his uncle, Frank Gould, as best man.[9] She was a daughter of Jules Patenôtre (formerly the French Ambassador to the United States) and Eleanor Elverson (the sister of James Elverson Jr. and daughter of publisher James Elverson Sr. by his wife Sallie Duvall, the three of them owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer).[10] Together, they were the parents of three daughters:[11]
- Raymonde de Castellane (1921–2006), who married Robert Bertin in 1952.[11]
- Pauline de Castellane (b. 1923), who married diplomat Charles Jehannot d'Huriel de Bartillat.[11]
- Elisabeth de Castellane (1928–1991), who married Jean Bertrand Jacques Adrien Nompar, Count of Caumont La Force in 1948.[11]
The Marquess died on 5 February 1946. His funeral was held at the Church of Saint-Honoré-d'Eylau.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "BONI DE CASSTELLANE DIES IN PARIS AT 64; Former Husband of Anna Gould Long Famous as "King of the Boulevardiers." CAME HERE AS WINE SELLER Ran Up $4,500,000 Debts After His Marriage to Heiress -- Wrote Several Volumes on America" (PDF). The New York Times. October 20, 1932. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ "MARQUIS DE CASTELLANE Son of the Former Anna Gould Is Dead in France at 53". The New York Times. August 28, 1956. p. 27. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Marriage annulled". Time magazine. July 21, 1924. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
The religious marriage of Boniface, comte de Castellane, to Anna Gould (daughter of the late Jay Gould), in 1895; at the Vatican, by Pope Pius XI. She divorced Boniface in Paris in 1906, in 1908 married (in London) Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, later the fifth Duke de Talleyrand.
- ^ "Died". Time magazine. November 8, 1937. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
Marie Pierre Louis Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Sagan, fifth Duke of Talleyrand, 78, husband of Railway Heiress Anna Gould; of a heart attack; in Paris. The Duke married Heiress Gould in 1908 after she had been divorced from his cousin, Count Boni de Castellane. Her father, Jay Gould, who bequeathed her $80,000,000, opposed their marriage."
- ^ "Talleyrand Model". Time magazine. June 3, 1929. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
Prince of Sagan, son of the Duchess de Talleyrand, who was Anna, the daughter of the late wealthy Jay Gould, shot himself on purpose in his mother's Paris home. The press did not get wind of the story until last week. When the press came, the Duchess was ready with a frank, detailed and—most important of all—entirely literate statement; one that prevented garbling by scandal-monging journals. The statement said: "The Duke and Duchess de Talleyrand regret keenly to announce the critical illness of their son, Howard. ... He shot himself because we refused him permission to marry until he was 21. ... The shooting took place in our home and our son was taken to a hospital in the Rue Puccini. ... Our son is now in an extremely grave condition. We wish to emphasize that we had no objection to the girl, but only opposed the marriage because of our son's age."
- ^ "Anna Gould's son, self-wounded, dies. Howard de Talleyrand, Prince de Sagan, 19, Succumbs in Paris After 11 Days. Parent's at his Bedside". The New York Times. May 29, 1929.
Paris, May 28, 1929. Howard de Talleyrand, Prince de Sagan, 19-year-old son of the Duc de Talleyrand and the former Anna Gould, died early this morning following a self-inflicted wound on May 17 after his parents had refused him immediate permission to marry.
- ^ a b Times, Wireless To the New York (8 February 1946). "SON OF ANNA GOULD SUCCUMBS IN PARIS; Marquis De Castellane Held French Embassy Posts in London During 1940". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "The Catalogue | Castellane, Marquise de, née Yvonne Patenôtre". www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com. The de Laszlo Archive Trust. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "COUNT DE CASTELLANE WEDS MLLE. PATENOTRE; Son of Former Husband of Anna Gould Marries Daughter of ex-French Ambassador". The New York Times. January 7, 1921. p. 13. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "COUNT CASTELLANE TO WED MLLE. PATERNOTRE; Son of Duchess de Talleyrand Engaged to Daughter of Ex-French Ambassador". The New York Times. 22 November 1920. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d Valynseele, Joseph (1 January 1980). Les maréchaux de Napoléon III : leur famille et leur descendance (in French). FeniXX. pp. 283–284. ISBN 978-2-402-49674-2. Retrieved 15 October 2024.