Duchess of Plaisance
Encyclopedia
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, where her father, François Barbé-Marbois
François Barbé-Marbois
François Barbé-Marbois, marquis de Barbé-Marbois was a French politician.-Early career:Born in Metz, where his father was director of the local mint, Barbé-Marbois tutored the children of the Marquis de Castries. In 1779 he was made secretary of the French legation to the United States...
, was serving as 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...
Consul-General in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 1804, Sophie married Charles-François Lebrun
Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance
Charles-François Lebrun, 1st Duke of Plaisance, prince of the Empire was a French statesman.-Ancien Régime:...
later duc de Plaisance, who along with Napoleon Bonaparte had served as one of three Consuls
French Consulate
The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804...
of France from 1799-1804. They had one daughter Eliza (Elizabeth). The marriage was unhappy and the couple separated without ever taking divorce; Sophie lived in Italy while the Duc served as the Governor of Holland from 1811-1813.
Upon the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
, the Duchess and her daughter generously supported the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
cause and in 1830, they moved to Nafplion
Nafplion
Nafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf. The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Nafplio is now the capital of the peripheral unit of...
, the capital of Greece at that time and she was reacquainted with the Greek leader John Capodistria whom she had met in 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...
in 1826. She became an ardent financial supporter of public education. Eventually, she became an opponent of Capodistrias, and after a 17-month stay, she departed for Italy. When Capodistrias was assassinated by Konstantinos Mavromichalis
Konstantinos Mavromichalis
Konstantinos Mavromichalis , brother of the Bey of Mani Petros Mavromichalis, was a commander of Maniot forces during the Greek War of Independence and the assassin of the first head of state of Greece, Ioannis Capodistrias. Along with Demetrius Ypsilanti, he commanded the forces that saved Nauplio...
and his nephew Georgios Mavromichalis, she spoke out against the way Capodistrias had run the Greek government.
In 1834, the Duchess returned to Greece and settled in the new capital Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. She purchased large amounts of agricultural land chiefly near Mt. Penteli
Penteli
Pentéli or Pendeli, , and Vrilissos or Vrilittos , Mendeli in medieval times) is a tall mountain and mountain range situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon. Its elevation is 1,109 m...
, but all around Athens. She engaged the Greek architect, Stamatios Kleanthis to design a palace for her on the slopes of Mt. Penteli. Meanwhile, in 1836, the Duchess and her daughter traveled to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, where Eliza died of pneumonia. Such was the sorrow of the Duchess that she had her daughter's body embalmed and returned to Athens where it was placed in a crypt under her temporary home on Peiraios Street.
Kleanthis completed the Tower of the Duchess of Plaisance in 1841 and then set to work on Villa Illisia, which was completed in 1848. Today the Villa Illisia is the site of the Byzantine Museum. A central fixture in the social life of Othonian Athens, the Duchess would host symposia on various topics of religion and politics in her palace. She was also known to dole out funds and titles of courtesy to those whom she found favorable. Something of an iconoclast, the Duchess rejected the prevailing faith, Greek Orthodoxy, and instead converted to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. She sponsored the building of a Jewish temple in Halkida, Euboea
Euboea
Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to...
.
Later in life, she commissioned Kleanthis to begin the construction of a final home and resting place for her beloved daughter's remains, the Castle of Rododafni. She would never live to see the house completed. In 1847, it caught fire and was burned to the ground. After that, the Duchess withdrew from public life only agreeing to see her old friend, Fotini Mavromichali, Lady-in-waiting for Queen consort Amalia of Oldenburg
Amalia of Oldenburg
Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece was the consort of King Otto of Greece . Born the daughter of Augustus, Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Princess Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, she married King Otto on 22 December 1836, in Oldenburg...
. She died in 1854 and her nephew sold her lands to the Greek state. She is buried with her daughter in her Tower near Penteli.
Today an Athens Metro
Athens Metro
The Athens Metro is an underground rapid transit system serving Athens, the capital city of Greece. It was constructed and owned by Attiko Metro S.A. and operated until 2011 by Attiko Metro Etaireia Leitourgias S.A....
station, built on her original lands, is named Doukissis Plakentias station
Doukissis Plakentias station
Doukissis Plakentias, in Athens, Greece is an Attiko Metro Blue Line Station situated in Agia Paraskevi near Doukissis Plakentias Avenue. Named after the Duchess of Plaisance, a philhellene, who owned much of the land in this part of Athens, it is located near Attiki Odos, and serves as a...
(Δουκίσσης Πλακεντίας).