María Manuela Kirkpatrick
Encyclopedia
María Manuela Enriqueta Kirkpatrick de Closeburn y de Grivegnée, Countess of Montijo
(February 24, 1794 in Malaga
- November 22, 1879 in Carabanchel
) was the mother of Eugénie
, the Empress of the French
.
Scotsman, William Kirkpatrick of Conheath, a wine merchant and Consul
of the United States of America
in Malaga
, Spain
, and his Liège
-born wife, Marie Françoise de Grivegnée, whose sister Catherine married the French diplomat, Matthieu de Lesseps. María Manuela was brilliant, vivacious and talented. In 1817 she married Don Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero (1785–1839), Count de Teba, and later Count de Montijo, Marquis de Algava, and Duke of Granada, Duke of Peñaranda, a grandee
of Spain, a Bonapartist
, and veteran of the Napoleonic Wars
. They had two daughters, and a son, Paco, who died young.
Their daughters were María Francisca de Sales, generally known as Paca (1825–1860), who inherited most of the family honours, and Eugénie, born one year later. In the 1830s Manuela and the girls moved to Paris for their education. There she renewed her association with George William Frederick Villiers, later Earl of Clarendon, who is rumoured to have been her lover. Manuela also continued her friendship with Prosper Mérimée
, whom she had met in Spain and who took great interest in the education of the girls. Manuela was Mérimée's source for the story of Carmen
.
In 1837, Manuela moved briefly to England to further the education of her daughters, but soon returned to Paris. After the death of her husband, and perhaps the disappointment of Villier's marriage to an English lady, Manuela engaged in an extensive social life and pursued her ambition to find suitable husbands for her daughters. In 1844 Paca became the wife of Jacobo Luis Fitz-James Stuart Ventimiglia Álvarez de Toledo Beaumont y Navarra, [eighth] Duke of Berwick, [eighth] Earl of Tinmouth, [eighth] Baron Bosworth, [eighth] Duke of Liria and Xérica, [fifteenth] Duke of Alba de Tormes (1821–1881), one of the richest men in Europe.
Eugénie did even better. Guided by her mother and Mérimée, she married Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.
Manuela lived long enough to see the rise and fall of the Second French Empire
. Her great great granddaughter is Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart
, the most titled noble in the world.
Montijo
Montijo is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 348.0 km² and a population of 40,199 inhabitants. The town of Montijo has a population of 25,719....
(February 24, 1794 in Malaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
- November 22, 1879 in Carabanchel
Carabanchel
Carabanchel is a district in the south western suburbs of Madrid, Spain.-Overview:The area was the scene of fierce fighting during the Spanish Civil War -especially in November 1936, during the Battle of Madrid, when Nationalist troops tried to fight their way into the area. Unacustomed to street...
) was the mother of Eugénie
Eugénie de Montijo
Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox-Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick, 16th Countess of Teba and 15th Marquise of Ardales; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo , was the last Empress consort of the French from 1853 to 1871 as the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of...
, the Empress of the 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...
.
Biography
Dona Manuela was born the daughter of an expatriateExpatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
Scotsman, William Kirkpatrick of Conheath, a wine merchant and Consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
of the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in Malaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and his Liège
Bishopric of Liège
The Bishopric of Liège or Prince-Bishopric of Liège was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries in present Belgium. It acquired its status as a prince-bishopric between 980 and 985 when Bishop Notger, who had been the bishop of Liege since 972, acquired the status of Prince-Bishop...
-born wife, Marie Françoise de Grivegnée, whose sister Catherine married the French diplomat, Matthieu de Lesseps. María Manuela was brilliant, vivacious and talented. In 1817 she married Don Cipriano de Palafox y Portocarrero (1785–1839), Count de Teba, and later Count de Montijo, Marquis de Algava, and Duke of Granada, Duke of Peñaranda, a grandee
Grandee
Grandee is the word used to render in English the Iberic high aristocratic title Grande , used by the Spanish nobility; Portuguese nobility, and Brazilian nobility....
of Spain, a Bonapartist
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
, and veteran of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. They had two daughters, and a son, Paco, who died young.
Their daughters were María Francisca de Sales, generally known as Paca (1825–1860), who inherited most of the family honours, and Eugénie, born one year later. In the 1830s Manuela and the girls moved to Paris for their education. There she renewed her association with George William Frederick Villiers, later Earl of Clarendon, who is rumoured to have been her lover. Manuela also continued her friendship with Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
, whom she had met in Spain and who took great interest in the education of the girls. Manuela was Mérimée's source for the story of Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
.
In 1837, Manuela moved briefly to England to further the education of her daughters, but soon returned to Paris. After the death of her husband, and perhaps the disappointment of Villier's marriage to an English lady, Manuela engaged in an extensive social life and pursued her ambition to find suitable husbands for her daughters. In 1844 Paca became the wife of Jacobo Luis Fitz-James Stuart Ventimiglia Álvarez de Toledo Beaumont y Navarra, [eighth] Duke of Berwick, [eighth] Earl of Tinmouth, [eighth] Baron Bosworth, [eighth] Duke of Liria and Xérica, [fifteenth] Duke of Alba de Tormes (1821–1881), one of the richest men in Europe.
Eugénie did even better. Guided by her mother and Mérimée, she married Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.
Manuela lived long enough to see the rise and fall of the Second French Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
. Her great great granddaughter is Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba
Doña María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th Duchess of Alba de Tormes, Grandee of Spain is the current head of the House of Alba and the third woman to carry the title in her own right...
, the most titled noble in the world.