Joseph de Riquet de Caraman (1808–1886)

Joseph de Riquet de Caraman
Prince of Chimay
Portrait of the Prince of Chimay, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1852
Born	(1808-08-20)20 August 1808 Paris, France
Died	12 March 1886(1886-03-12) (aged 77) London, England
Spouse	Émilie Pellapra ​ ​ (m. 1830; died 1871)​
Issue	Emilie de Riquet de Caraman Joseph de Riquet de Caraman Valentine de Riquet de Caraman Eugène de Riquet de Caraman
House	Riquet de Caraman
Father	François Joseph de Riquet de Caraman
Mother	Thérésa Cabarrus

Joseph de Riquet de Caraman, 17th Prince de Chimay (20 August 1808 – 12 March 1886) was a Belgian diplomat and industrialist.

Early life

Joseph was the eldest son of François Joseph de Riquet de Caraman, prince de Chimay and his wife Thérésa Cabarrus (Madame Tallien), one of the leaders of Parisian social life during the Directory.

Career

He led the negotiations which led to a treaty of friendship between the Netherlands and Belgium following William I of the Netherlands' abjuration, which guaranteed Belgian independence. He also contributed to establishing Belgium's diplomatic relations with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Kingdom of Naples, the Papal States and the German Confederation. In 1824, he was created Prince of Caraman in the Dutch nobility^[1]

In 1852, he acquired the Hôtel de la Pagerie at 17 quai Malaquais, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, renaming it Hôtel de Chimay. It was sold in 1883 to the École des beaux-arts. In 1863, he built a theatre in his château de Chimay in Belgium, designed by Hector-Martin Lefuel and Cambon and inspired by Louis XV's theatre at the Palace of Fontainebleau.

He financed the foundation of Scourmont Abbey on Chimay lands and in 1858 headed the consortium which founded the Compagnie de Chimay, one of the first Belgian railway companies, which built a line linking Chimay to Anor in France and Mariembourg.^[2]

Personal life

Portrait of his granddaughter, Countess Dionys Széchényi, by Philip de László, 1912

On 30 August 1830, Joseph married Émilie Pellapra (1806–1871) in Paris. The widow of comte de Brigode, she was the daughter of Françoise-Marie LeRoy and Henri de Pellapra, a wealthy financier, although Émilie claimed to be a daughter of Napoleon.^[3][4] Together, Émilie and Joseph had four children:

• Marie Thérèse Emilie de Riquet de Caraman (1832–1851), who married politician Frédéric Lagrange.
• Marie Joseph Guy Henry Philippe de Riquet de Caraman (1836–1892), who married Marie de Montesquiou-Fezensac in 1857. After her death in 1884, he married Mathilde de Barandiaran in 1889.^[5]
• Valentine de Riquet de Caraman (1839–1914), who married Prince Paul de Bauffremont in 1861. They divorced in 1875 and she married Prince Georges Bibescu, a son of the Prince of Wallachia Gheorghe Bibescu, in 1875.^[3]
• Eugène de Riquet de Caraman (1847–1881), who married Louise de Graffenried-Villars.^[6]

The Prince de Chamay died in London on 12 March 1886.^[7]

Descendants

Through his eldest son Joseph, he was a grandfather of Joseph, Prince de Caraman-Chimay (who married, and divorced, American heiress Clara Ward,^{[8][9][10][11][12]} and Anne Marie Charlotte Amélie Gilone Le Veneur de Tillières),^[13] Élisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (who married Henry, Count of Greffulhe),^[14][15] Pierre de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (who married Marthe Mathilde Barbe Werlé and Jeanne Marie Carraby),^[13] Ghislaine de Caraman-Chimay (a lady-in-waiting to Elisabeth, Queen of the Belgians),^[13] Marie Joséphine de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (who married Charles Camille Pochet),^[13] and Alexandre de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (who married Catherine Hélène, Princess Bassaraba de Brancovan,^[16][17] and Mathilde Stuyvesant (née Löwenguth) in 1933,^[18] a French widow of an American heir who had previously been married to a Dutch count).^[19]

Through his youngest son Prince Eugène, he was a grandfather of Countess Emilie de Caraman et Chimay (1871–1944), who married Hungarian diplomat Count Dionys Széchényi, and Countess Hélène de Caraman et Chimay (1864–1902), who married Anglo-Irish diplomat John Francis Charles, 7th Count de Salis-Soglio.^[6]

References

1. The Titled Nobility of Europe: An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who", of the Sovereigns, Princes and Nobles of Europe. Harrison & Sons. 1914. p. 438. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
2. Weber, William E. (9 November 2004). The Musician as Entrepreneur, 1700-1914: Managers, Charlatans, and Idealists. Indiana University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-253-05776-1. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
3. BIBESCO, Mme le Princesse (1921). "UNE FILLE DE NAPOLÉON: ÉMILIE DE PELLAPRA COMTESSE DE BRIGODE, PRINCESSE DE CHIMAY". Revue des Deux Mondes (1829-1971). 62 (2): 319–336. ISSN 0035-1962. JSTOR 44845301.
4. Normington, Susan (1993). Napoleon's Children. A. Sutton. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7509-0203-8.
5. Doria, Francisco Antônio (1999). Caramuru e Catarina: lendas e narrativas sobre a Case da Torre de Gracia d'Avila (in Brazilian Portuguese). Editora Senac. p. 78. ISBN 978-85-7359-125-5. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
6. Annuaire général heraldique pour 1904 (in French). 1904. p. 756. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
7. "OBITUARY NOTES. | The Prince de Chimay". The New York Times. 30 March 1892. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
8. "THE ELOPING PRINCESS.; She Says She Bade Her Husband Farewell Before Leaving Him". The New York Times. 25 December 1896. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
9. "DIVORCES GRANTED IN EUROPE.; The Prince de Chimay Free from His Eloping Wife". The New York Times. 3 February 1897. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
10. "JANOS RIGO REPORTED DEAD.; He Was the Gypsy Who Eloped with the Princess De Chimay". The New York Times. 7 June 1899. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
11. "CLARA WARD DIES IN ITALY.; Former Princess Chimay, Who Eloped with Rigo, Gypsy Violinist". The New York Times. 19 December 1916. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
12. "CLARA WARD LEFT $1,124,935 ESTATE; Fortune Is to be Divided Into Trust Funds for Her Husband and Children". The New York Times. 23 December 1916. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
13. Almanach de Gotha (in French). Johann Paul Mevius sel. Witwe und Johann Christian Dieterich. 1927. p. 578. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
14. Verhovek, Sam Howe (10 July 1997). "Texas Two-Step In Rococo Palace". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
15. Friedman, Vanessa (11 November 2015). "When the Famous Dressed Themselves". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
16. Carter, William C. (2013). Marcel Proust: A Life, with a New Preface by the Author. Yale University Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-300-19179-0. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
17. "Prince Alexandre de Caraman-Chimay and Princess Hélène Bassaraba de Brancovan 1898 Wedding". The Pall Mall Gazette. 25 August 1898. p. 8. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
18. "PRINCESS CHIMAY DIES IN HOME HERE; The Former Mrs. Rutherfurd Stuyvesant Aided Charity Drive in 1st World War". The New York Times. 11 July 1948. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
19. "MRS. STUYYESANT IS WED TO PRINCE; Becomes Bride of Alexandre de Caraman-Chimay, Member of an Old Belgian Family. SHE WAS ONCE BARONESS Widow of Noted New Yorker Was Dutch Nobleman's Widow at Marriage 30 Years Ago". The New York Times. 18 August 1933. Retrieved 3 April 2020.

External lknks

• JOSEPH DE RIQUET at the Online Database voor Intermediaire Structuren