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.

Élaine, Duchess of Gramont
Photograph taken by Nadar in 1900
Born
Élaine Marie Joseph Charlotte de Greffulhe

(1882-03-19)19 March 1882
Paris, French Third Republic
Died11 February 1958(1958-02-11) (aged 75)
Paris, France
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. after 1904)
Parent(s)Henry Greffulhe
Élisabeth 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 (1909–1894), 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. 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. 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. p. 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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