Élaine Greffulhe

Countess Élaine Marie Joseph Charlotte de Greffulhe (19 March 1882 – 11 February 1958), who became the Duchess of Gramont by marriage, was a French aristocrat. She was a descendant of Hortense Mancini through her granddaughter's Pauline Félicité de Mailly son Charles de Vintimille, duc de Luc.

Élaine Greffulhe
Photograph taken by Nadar in 1900
Duchess of Gramont
Tenure1925–11 February 1958
BornÉlaine Marie Joseph Charlotte de Greffulhe
19 March 1882
Paris, French Third Republic
Died11 February 1958
Paris, France
Noble familyde Greffulhe
Spouse(s)Armand de Gramont
IssueAntoine Agénor Henri Armand de Gramont, 13th Duke of Gramont
Comte Jean Armand Antoine de Gramont
Comte Charles Louis Antoine Armand de Gramont
Corisande Marguerite Elisabeth de Gramont
FatherHenry Greffulhe
MotherÉlisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay

Early life
Portrait by Philip de László, 1905

Élaine was born on 19 March 1882 in Paris. She was the daughter, and heiress,[1] of Count Henry Greffulhe and his wife, Élisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay[2] (said to be a model for the Duchess of Guermantes in Marcel Proust’s novel, À la recherche du temps perdu).[3]

Personal life

In 1904, she married Armand de Gramont, who later became the 12th Duke of Gramont.[4] His parents were Agénor de Gramont, 11th Duke of Gramont and the former Marguerite de Rothschild.[5] A rare film clip may show Proust (in bowler hat and gray coat) at her wedding in 1904.[6] Proust’s wedding gift to the groom was apparently a revolver in a leather case inscribed with verses from her childhood poems.[7] Czar Nicholas II of Russia sent her a gift in honor of their 1904 marriage.[2] Together, Élaine and Armand were the parents of:[5]

  • Antoine Agénor Henri Armand de Gramont, 13th Duke of Gramont (1907–1995), who married Odile Marguerite Marie Marthe Madeleine Sublet d'Heudicourt de Lenoncourt.[5]
  • Comte Jean Armand Antoine de Gramont (1909–1994), who married Ghislaine Meunier du Houssoy.
  • Comte Charles Louis Antoine Armand de Gramont (b. 1911), who married Shermine Baras
  • Corisande Marguerite Elisabeth de Gramont (b. 1920), who married Comte Jean-Louis de Maigret.

Élaine died in Paris on 11 February 1958.[8]

References
  1. Raineval, Melville Henry Massue marquis de Ruvigny et (1914). The Titled Nobility of Europe: An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who," of the Sovereigns, Princes, and Nobles of Europe. Burke's Peerage. p. 725. ISBN 9780850110289. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  2. Weber, William; Press, Indiana University (2004). The Musician as Entrepreneur, 1700-1914: Managers, Charlatans, and Idealists. Indiana University Press. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-253-34456-4. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. Proust, Marcel; Kilmartin, Terence (1983). Selected Letters: 1904-1909. Collins. pp. 62, 112. ISBN 9780002170789. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  4. nationales (França), Archives; Huart, Suzanne d'; Tourtier-Bonazzi, Chantal de; Sibille, Claire (2004). État sommaire des fonds d'archives privées: séries AP (1 à 629 AP) et AB XIX (in French). Centre historique des Archives nationales. ISBN 978-2-86000-306-3. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  5. Mension-Rigau, Eric (2011). L'ami du prince: Journal inédit d'Alfred de Gramont (1892-1915) (in French). Fayard. pp. 224, 243. ISBN 978-2-213-66502-3. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  6. Link to film clip
  7. Ha, Thu-Huong (February 16, 2017). "Scholars think they've spotted Marcel Proust in film for the first time—in 110-year-old wedding footage". Quartz. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  8. Weber, Caroline (2018). Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siecle Paris. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-96179-2. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
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