Alexandre Joseph Count Colonna-Walewski
Encyclopedia
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
. He was the illegitimate son of Napoleon I
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
by his mistress Countess Marie Walewska.
Life
Walewski was born at WalewiceWalewice
Walewice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bielawy, within Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland, on the Bzura River. It lies approximately west of Łowicz and north of the regional capital Łódź....
, near Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, in Poland. At fourteen he refused to enter the Russian army, escaping to London and thence to Paris, where the French government refused to extradite him to the Russian authorities. Louis Philippe sent him to Poland in 1830, where he was entrusted by the leaders of the Polish November 1830-31 Uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
with a mission to London.
After the fall of Warsaw he took out letters of naturalization in France and entered the French army, seeing some service in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
as Captain in the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
and the Chasseurs d'Afrique
Chasseurs d'Afrique
The Chasseurs d'Afrique were a light cavalry corps in the French Armée d'Afrique . First raised in the 1830s from regular French cavalry posted to Algeria, they numbered five regiments by World War II...
. In 1837 he resigned his commission and began to write for the stage and for the press. He is said to have collaborated with the elder Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
in Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle, and a comedy of his, L'Ecole du monde, was produced at the Theâtre Français in 1840.
In that year his paper, Le Messager des chambres, was taken over by Thiers, who sent him on a mission to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and under the Guizot ministry he was sent to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
to co-operate with the British minister Lord Howden (Sir J Caradoc). The accession of Louis Napoleon to the supreme power in France guaranteed his career. He was sent as envoy extraordinary to Florence, to Naples and then to London, where he announced the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
to Palmerston
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
.
In 1855 Walewski succeeded Drouyn de Lhuys as minister of foreign affairs, and acted as French plenipotentiary at the Congress of Paris next year. As foreign minister, Walewski was an advocate for the entente with Russia, but also an opponent of the Emperor's adventurous policy in Italy, which led to war with Austria in 1859. When he left the Foreign Office in 1860 it was to become minister of state, an office which he held until 1863. Senator from 1855 to 1865, he entered the Corps Législatif
Corps législatif
The Corps législatif was a part of the French legislature during the French Revolution and beyond. It is also the generic French term used to refer to any legislative body.-History:The Constitution of the Year I foresaw the need for a corps législatif...
in 1865, and was installed, by the emperor's interest, as president of the Chamber. A revolt against his authority two years later sent him back to the Senate. He was created a duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
in 1866, was a member of the Académie des beaux-arts
Académie des beaux-arts
The Académie des Beaux-Arts is a French learned society. It is one of the five academies of the Institut de France.It was created in 1795 as the merger of the:* Académie de peinture et de sculpture...
, and was awarded a grand cross of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
Alexandre Walewski died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
at Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
on the 27 October 1868 and was interred in Paris' Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
.
Descendants
He married Lady Catherine Caroline Montagu (1808–1833), daughter of George Montagu, 6th Earl of SandwichGeorge Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich
George John Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich was the son of John Montagu, 5th Earl of Sandwich and Lady Mary Henrietta Powlett. He was styled Viscount Hinchingbrooke from 1790 to 1814...
and Lady Louisa Mary Anne Julia Harriet Lowry-Corry
Louisa Montagu, Countess of Sandwich
Lady Louisa Mary Anne Julia Harriet Lowry-Corry, Countess of Sandwich was an Irish noblewoman and society figure, who in 1804 became the wife of George Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich....
, on 1 December 1831. Following her death, he then married Maria Anna di Ricci, daughter of Count Zanobi di Ricci and Isabelle Princess Poniatowski, on 4 June 1846 in Firenze. He was the father of a child by the actress Rachel Felix in 1844.
He had seven children, two from his first marriage, four from his second marriage, and one illegitimate:
- By Lady Catherine Caroline Montagu (both died at an early age)
- Louise Marie Colonna-Walewska.
- Comte George Eduard Auguste Colonna-Walewski.
- By Maria Anna di Ricci (1823–1912).
- Isabelle Colonna-Walewski (born in Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1847. She is buried in La Recoleta CemeteryLa Recoleta CemeteryLa Recoleta Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in the exclusive Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, and several presidents of Argentina.- History :...
). - Comte Charles Walewski (1848–1916), married Félice Douay (died 1952); no children.
- Elise Colonna-Walewski (died 1927) married Félix, Count de Bourqueney; they had descendants.
- Eugénie Colonna-Walewski (died 1884), married Count Frédéric Mathéus; they had descendants.
- Isabelle Colonna-Walewski (born in Buenos Aires
- By Rachel FelixRachel (actress)Elisabeth "Eliza, or Élisa" Rachel Félix , better known only as Mademoiselle Rachel , was a French actress....
.- Comte Alexandre Antoine Colonna-Walewski, (recognized 1844 and adopted by Walewski in 1860), who has numerous descendants living today.
Works
- Un mot sur la question d'Afrique, Paris 1837
- L'Alliance Anglaise, Paris 1838
- L'École du Monde, ou la Coquette sans le savoir (comedy), Paris 1840
External links
- Walewski.org, Walewski family foundation
- NapoleonSeries.org, Genealogy entry
- PictureHistory.com, Photograph
- Spencer Napoleonica Collection at Newberry LibraryNewberry LibraryThe Newberry Library is a privately endowed, independent research library for the humanities and social sciences in Chicago, Illinois. Although it is private, non-circulating library, the Newberry Library is free and open to the public...