Antoine IX Héraclius-Agénor de Gramont, Duke de Guiche and then Duke of Gramont (17 June 1789 Versailles

Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....

-3 March 1855 Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 aristocrat.

Life

De Gramont was the son of Antoine VIII de Gramont and Aglaé de Polignac, daughter of Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchesse de Polignac

Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac

Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac was the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette became the Queen of France...

, a court favourite of Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....

.

Born in the year of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, Antoine and his family left the country for England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

In Russia, when de Gramont was 9 years old, he was made lieutenant in the Tauride regiment, serving Suvorov

Alexander Suvorov

Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov , Count Suvorov of Rymnik, Prince in Italy, Count of the Holy Roman Empire , was the fourth and last generalissimo of the Russian Empire.One of the few great generals in history who never lost a battle along with the likes of Alexander...

, the Russian general. The young duc de Guiche met his father in Mittau, where he was with Louis XVIII. His sister, Aglaé Angélique Gabrielle, at that time married an older general, named Aleksandr Lvovich Davydov.

He then went to England to complete his education. After finishing his education, he fought under the British flag in the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

. After marrying Ida d'Orsay (the sister of Alfred d'Orsay) in 1818, his son Agenor

Agenor, duc de Gramont

Antoine Alfred Agénor, Duc de Gramont was a French diplomat and statesman.He was born at Paris of one of the most illustrious families of the old noblesse, a cadet branch of the viscounts of Aure, which took its name from the Seignory of Gramont in Navarre...

 was born a year later. Meanwhile his military career went well: he became a lieutenant-general in the French army in 1823, but he had to accompany the exiled king Charles X

Charles X of France

Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

 to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 in 1830.

Family

He married Anna Quintina Ida Grimaud d'Orsay (19 June 1802-2 January 1882) in Paris on 23 July 1818. They had children:

• Antoine Alfred Agénor, 10th Duc de Gramont
  Agenor, duc de Gramont
  Antoine Alfred Agénor, Duc de Gramont was a French diplomat and statesman.He was born at Paris of one of the most illustrious families of the old noblesse, a cadet branch of the viscounts of Aure, which took its name from the Seignory of Gramont in Navarre...
  
  ,
• Antoine Philibert Léon Auguste Duc de Lesparre (1 July 1820-4 September 1877),
• Antonia Albertine Corisande (12 July 1821-5 October 1826),
• Antoine Alfred Annérius Théophile Cte de Gramont (2 June 1823-18 December 1881),
• Antonia Armandine Aglaé Ida (5 October 1825-6 September 1871),
• Antonia Gabrielle Léontine (2 March 1829-15 October 1897)

External links