Mathilde Stuyvesant

Mathilde, Princess Alexandre de Caraman Chimay (née Mathilde Gisele Elizabeth Löwenguth, formerly the Countess de Wassanaer and Mrs. Rutherfurd Stuvyesant) (29 November 1877 – 10 July 1948) was a French heiress and society leader who is known for her three marriages to wealthy and prominent men, a Dutch Count, an American heir, and a Belgian Prince.

Mathilde Elizabeth Stuyvesant
Photograph of Mrs. Stuyvesant, c. 1915–1920.
Born
Mathilde Gisele Elizabeth Löwenguth

(1877-11-29)29 November 1877
Strasbourg, Alsace, France
Died10 July 1948(1948-07-10) (aged 70)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Willem Lodewijk Worbert van Wassenaer
​
(
m. 1895; div. 1900)

​
(
m. 1902; died 1909)

Prince Alexandre de Caraman-Chimay
​
(
m. 1933; her death 1948)
ChildrenLewis Rutherfurd Stuyvesant
Alan Rutherfurd Stuyvesant
Parent(s)Joseph Löwenguth
Rosalie Humbert Löwenguth

Early life

Mathilde Gisele Elizabeth Löwenguth was born on 29 November 1877 in Strasbourg, Alsace, France.[1] She was a daughter of Joseph Löwenguth (or Loewenguth)[2] and the former Rosalie Humbert.[3]

Personal life

Mathilde was married three times. Her first marriage was in Paris to a Willem Lodewijk Worbert, Graaf van Wassenaer (1852–1913) on 26 July 1895. He was born in Florence, Italy and was a son of Willem Lodewijk Worbert van Wassenaer and Maria Catharina Frederika van Rechteren-Limpurg.[4][5] Although most contemporary newspapers referred to her as a widow, she was actually divorced from her first husband around the year 1900. He actually outlived her second husband and died in Bathmen, Netherlands on 23 August 1913.

On 16 June 1902, she remarried to Rutherfurd Stuyvesant at St. George's Chapel on Albemarle Street in London.[6] The American Stuyvesant was a son of the lawyer and well-known astronomer Lewis Morris Rutherfurd and, his wife, Margaret Stuyvesant (née Chanler) Rutherfurd (the niece and adopted daughter of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant)[7][8] and was a direct descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Director-General of New Amsterdam in 1664. His first wife, the former Mary Pierrepont (a granddaughter of Peter Augustus Jay),[9][2] had died, along with their son, during childbirth in 1879.[2] Together, Mathilde and Rutherfurd lived primarily in New York (at 246 East 15th Street opposite Stuyvesant Square), at their country estate known as Tranquility Farms (near Hackettstown, New Jersey)[7] and abroad where she owned a villa in the South of France. They were the parents of two sons:

  • Lewis Rutherfurd Stuyvesant (1903–1944),[10] who married Rosalie Stuyvesant Pillot in 1925, daughter of Peter Stuyvesant Pillot. The couple had one child, Peter Winthrop Rutherfurd Stuyvesant (1935–1970),[11][12] before they divorced in 1930.[13] He later married Elizabeth (née Larocque) Smith in 1934. She was the former wife of Schuyler Knowlton Smith and the daughter of Joseph Laroque.[14]
  • Alan Rutherfurd Stuyvesant (1905–1954), who did not marry. He was injured in a car accident in 1934.[15] He died aboard a ship just short of arriving at their destination to France.[16]

Her second husband Rutherfurd died suddenly while out for his customary morning walk in the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 4 July 1909.[17][18] His body was sent back to the United States for burial.[19]

After his death, she lived in Paris for several years,[20] and was active in American charities in France during World War I.[21] On 18 August 1933, she married for the third time to Belgian Prince Alexandre de Caraman-Chimay (1873–1951). Prince Alexandre was a son of Joseph de Caraman-Chimay, 18th Prince de Chimay and brother of Élisabeth, Countess Greffulhe and Joseph, Prince de Caraman-Chimay (married to American heiress Clara Ward).[22] He his first wife was Catherine Hélène, Princess Bassaraba de Brancovan (a daughter of Prince Grégoire),[23][24] who died in Paris in 1929, and was the mother of his only child, Prince Marc-Adolphe de Caraman-Chimay (1903–1992).[25]

The Princess Alexandre de Caraman Chimay died on 10 July 1948 at her home, 1170 Fifth Avenue in New York City.[26] She was buried in the Stuyvesant family plot at Tranquility Cemetery, New Jersey.[3] Her wealth was held in trust for her children and grandson.[27]

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References
  1. "Mrs. Rutherford Stuyvesant (d. 1948)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  2. Bergen, Tunis Garret (1915). Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 768. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  3. "PRIHCESS 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 19 July 2017.
  4. Lennep, Jacob (1884). Het kasteel Rechteren (in Dutch). p. 38. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  5. Lennep, Jacob (1884). Merkwaardige kasteelen in Nederland (in Dutch). Brill. p. 38. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  6. "RUTHERFORD STUYVESANT MARRIED IN LONDON.; He Weds the Comtesse de Warranaer -- Ambassador Choate Present at the Ceremony". The New York Times. 17 June 1902. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  7. "Society at Home and Abroad". The New York Times. 25 May 1902. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  8. Gray, Christopher (11 July 2013). "Apartment Buildings, the Latest in French Ideas". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  9. "MRS. A. M. PIERREPONT DEAD.; Was a Granddaughter of John Jay, First Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court". The New York Times. 3 January 1902. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  10. "LEWIS STUVYSANT DIES IN CLUB HERE; Sportsman, War. Veteran Was Consul in India -- Descendant of Peter Stuyvesant". The New York Times. 8 September 1944. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  11. "Son to Mrs. L. R. Stuyvesant". The New York Times. 18 December 1935. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  12. "REMEMBRANCES OF A WAR'S END; A GOVERNOR'S DESCENDANTS". The New York Times. 13 August 1995. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  13. "RENO DIVORCE GRANTED MRS. L.R. STUYVESANT; Mental Cruelty Is Reported as Grounds--Husband American Consul General of Calcutta". The New York Times. 7 August 1930. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  14. Times, Special To The New York (13 July 1934). "MRS. E. L. SMITH NEW JERSEY BRIDE; Simple Ceremony Unites Her to Lewis R. Stuyvesant, a Prominent Sportsman. HE IS PRINCETON ALUMNUS Bridegroom, a Well-Known .Big Game Hunter, Is Son of Queen Astrid's Lady-in-Waiting". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  15. Times, Special To The New York (19 June 1934). "O'RYAN SECRETARY HURT.; A.R. Stuyvesant Victim of Auto Crash at Princeton, N.J." The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  16. Times, Special To The New York (10 February 1954). "ALAN STUYVESANT DIES IN LINER FALL; Descendant of Dutch Governor Succumbs in France -- Found Hurt on the United States". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  17. "R. STUYVESANT DIES SUDDENLY IN PARIS; Stricken on Street -- Though Born Rutherfurd, an Ancestor Was Gov. Peter Stuyvesant. HE WAS 69 YEARS OLD Ambassador White's Brother-in-Law -- First Wife Was Miss Pierrepont -- Second, Countess de Wassenaer, Survives Him". The New York Times. 5 July 1909. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  18. Times, Special To The New York (10 October 1909). "BEQUEST OF $20,000 FOR THE ART MUSEUM; Metropolitan Benefits from the Estate of Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, Valued at Millions. MONEY GIFTS FOR RELATIVES Use of Tranquility, His Country Estate, for His Widow During Her Life, Who Gets City Residence Also". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  19. "WHITE BACK IN PARIS.; Body of Ambassador's Brother-in-Law, Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, Sent Home". The New York Times. 18 August 1909. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  20. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (22 June 1913). "RUSH OF FUNCTIONS WEARIES PARISIANS; Mrs. Rutherfurd Stuyvesant and Ambassador Herrick Among the Week's Entertainers". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  21. "MAKES PLEA FOR AID FOR FRENCH INFANTS; Mrs. Rutherford Stuyvesant Speaks for American Committee of the Charite Maternelle". The New York Times. 7 October 1917. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  22. Almanach de Gotha (in French). J. Perthes. 1907. p. 434. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  23. 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.
  24. "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.
  25. "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.
  26. "PRINCESS CARAMAN-CHIMAY Former Parisian society leader". New York Daily News. 11 July 1948. p. 323. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  27. "STUYVESANT SHARES IN $363,000 ESTATE". Bernardsville News. 31 July 1952. p. 3. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
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