Alexandrine Charlotte de Rohan-Chabot

Alexandrine Charlotte "Rosalie" de Rohan-Chabot (1763–1839), the duchess of La Rochefoucauld was a French duchess and letter writer, known for the events of her life during the French Revolution.

Rosalie,
Duchess of La Rochefoucauld
Alexandrine Charlotte de Rohan-Chabot, 1789, by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
Full name
Alexandrine Charlotte de Rohan-Chabot
Born1763
Died1839
Spouse(s)Louis Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld d'Enville, Boniface Louis Andre, Marquis of Castellane
FatherLouis Antoine de Rohan-Chabot, Duke of Chabot, 6th Duke of Rohan
MotherÉlisabeth Louise de La Rochefoucauld

She witnessed the infamous Reign of Terror at firsthand, including the assassination of her husband (and uncle) the Duc de La Rochefoucauld in Gisors during the September Massacres (they had married in 1780 and the marriage was childless) and the execution of her brother. In 1810 she remarried by wedding her relative, Boniface Louis Andre, Marquis de Castellane.[1]

She was also the lover of U.S. ambassador William Short, the "adoptive son" of Thomas Jefferson. Their love affair was recorded in hundreds of letters, which document the lovers' pains of separation and their frustration with social norms. Likewise, their words of devotion are especially poetic and moving. The love letters are an authentic literary contribution, and offer personal insights into a turbulent era of world history.[2]

References
  1. Shackelford, p. 160
  2. “William Short, Jefferson's Only "Son"” The North American Review, September 1926, p. 471-486

Attribution
  • Kimball, Marie Goebel (Third Quarter 1926). William Short, Jefferson's Only "Son". The North American Review.



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