Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duke of Sagan

Marie Pierre Louis Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord (August 23, 1859 – October 25, 1937), 5th Duke of Talleyrand and Dino, Prince, then Duke of Sagan, was a French socialite and son of Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord.[1][2]

Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord
Born	Marie Pierre Camille Louis Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord August 23, 1859
Died	October 25, 1937 (aged 78) Paris, France
Spouse(s)	Anna Gould ​ ​ (m. 1908; his death 1937)​
Children	Howard de Talleyrand Helene Violette de Talleyrand
Parent(s)	Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord Jeanne Seillière

Early life

Talleyrand was born on August 23, 1859 to Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord, the 4th Duke of Talleyrand (1832-1910) and Jeanne Seillière (1839-1905), the heiress to Baron de Seilliere, army supply contractor who had enriched himself during the Franco-Prussian War.[1][3] His younger brother was Boson de Talleyrand-Périgord (1867-1952), duc de Valençay.[4]

His paternal grandparents were Napoléon Louis, III. duc de Talleyrand-Périgord (1811-1898) and Anne Louise Charlotte Alix de Montmorency (1810-1858).[5] His paternal great-grandparents were Alexandre de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duke of Dino (1787–1872) and later duc de Talleyrand-Périgord, and Dorothea of Courland, Duchess of Sagan (1793–1862).[6] Another great-grandfather was the Duke of Montmorency.

Peerage

In 1910, upon the death of his father, he succeeded to his father's titles, becoming His Serene Highness, the 5th Duke of Talleyrand and Herzog zu Sagan.[7] On 10 July 1912, he was confirmed as the 5th Duke of Dino by Umberto II, the King of Italy. After his death, his titles passed to his younger brother, as his only son predeceased him.[1]

Personal life

In 1908, he married Countess Anna de Castellane (1875–1961).[8][9] Anna was the daughter of Jay Gould (1836–1892), an American railroad developer who has been referred to as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age.[10][11] Anna was the sister of George Jay Gould I, Edwin Gould I, Helen Miller Gould, Howard Gould, and Frank Jay Gould.[12] She had previously married (1895-1906) to his cousin, Comte Boni de Castellane, later Marquis de Castellane.[1] They had the following children:[1]

• Howard de Talleyrand, Prince of Sagan (1909–1929), who took his own life on May 28, 1929.[13]
• Helene Violette de Talleyrand (1915–2003), who married James Robert de Pourtales on March 29, 1937 in Le Val-Saint-Germain. They divorced in 1969, and on March 20, 1969 she married Gaston Palewski (1901–1984), the Minister of Scientific Research and Atomic and Space Questions from 1962 to 1966. They married in Paris.

Their son, Howard, took his own life on May 28, 1929 at his parents’ home in Paris when told he could not marry. He was taken to a hospital on Rue Puccini, where he died. His parents thought at the age of 19, he was too young to marry. Hélie and Anna said: "... we had no objection to the girl, but only opposed the marriage because of our son's age."[14][13]

Talleyrand died on October 25, 1937 of a heart attack in Paris.[1][2]

Descendants

He was the grandfather of Hélie de Pourtalès who married, as his second wife, Marie Eugénie de Witt (b. 1939), the eldest daughter of Princess Marie Clotilde Bonaparte.

See also

• House of Talleyrand-Périgord

References

1. "Talleyrand Dead. Wed Anna Gould. Duke Was Known as Prince of Sagan at Time of Courtship in First of Century". New York Times. October 27, 1937. Retrieved 2011-11-18. Marie Pierre Camille Louis Helie de Talleyrand-Perigord, Prince of Sagan and fifth Duke of Talleyrand, was a principal in one of the international marriage of the first decade of this century. He married Anna Gould, heir to more than $80,000,000 of the fortune of her father, the late Jay Gould, after she had divorced his cousin, Count Boni de Castellane. ...
2. "Died". Time. November 8, 1937. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Marie Pierre Louis Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Sagan, fifth Duke of Talleyrand, 78, husband of Railway Heiress Anna Gould; of a heart attack; in Paris. The Duke married Heiress Gould in 1908 after she had been divorced from his cousin, Count Boni de Castellane. Her father, Jay Gould, who bequeathed her $80,000,000, opposed their marriage.
3. Dino (duchesse de), Dorothée (1909). Memoirs the Duchesse de Dino: 1831-1835. W. Heinemann. p. 346. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
4. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1911. pp. 1001–1002. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
5. "THE TALLEYRAND BED". pelhamgalleries.com. Pelham Galleries. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
6. Adolphe Robert, Edgar Bourloton and Gaston Cougny, Dictionnaire des Parlementaires français, volume V (Paris, 1891) p. 361.
7. "TALLEYRAND DEAD; SAGAN NOW A DUKE; Husband of Former Anna Gould Succeeds to Father's Titles, Including Serene Highness". The New York Times. 22 February 1910. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
8. "Died". Time magazine. December 8, 1961. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Anna Gould, Duchess of Talleyrand, 83, daughter of Rail Tycoon Jay Gould and one of the first of the American heiresses whose marriages infused new blood—and new money—into Europe's sagging aristocracy; of a heart attack; in Paris. Wed to Count Boniface de Castellane in 1895, Anna Gould divorced him after an 11-year phantasmagoria of pink marble palaces and $150,000 parties during which the Parisian gay blade skated through more than half of her $13.5 million inheritance. Two years later, she wed the fifth Duke of Talleyrand, a descendant of the wily French diplomatist whose machinations shaped post-Napoleonic Europe, lived with him for 29 years until his death in 1937.
9. "Duchesse de Talleyrand Is Dead. Youngest daughter of Jay Gould". New York Times. November 30, 1961. Retrieved 2008-08-06. The Duchesse de Talleyrand-Périgord, daughter of the late Jay Gould, American railroad financier, died today in Paris where she passed most of her life.
10. Maury Klein (1997). The Life and Legend of Jay Gould. p. 393. ISBN 9780801857713.
11. Rennehan, Edward J. (2005). Dark Genius of Wall Street.
12. Porter, Russell (20 October 1960). "SON OF JAY GOULD LEFT $47,592,898; 28 Residuary Heirs Listed in Will of Howard, Last of Direct Inheritors ACCOUNTING MADE HERE 25 Relatives Will Get 1/26th of Net Estate and 3 Will Receive 1/78th Each". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
13. "Anna Gould's son, self-wounded, dies. Howard de Talleyrand, Prince de Sagan, 19, Succumbs in Paris After 11 Days. Parent's at his Bedside". New York Times. May 29, 1929. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Paris, May 28, 1929. Howard de Talleyrand, Prince de Sagan, 19-year-old son of the Duc de Talleyrand and the former Anna Gould, died early this morning following a self-inflicted wound on May 17 after his parents had refused him immediate permission to marry.
14. "Talleyrand Motel". Time. June 3, 1929. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Prince of Sagan, son of the Duchess de Talleyrand, who was Anna, the daughter of the late wealthy Jay Gould, shot himself on purpose in his mother's Paris home. ... The statement said: "The Duke and Duchess de Talleyrand regret keenly to announce the critical illness of their son, Howard. ... He shot himself because we refused him permission to marry until he was 21. ... The shooting took place in our home and our son was taken to a hospital in the Rue Puccini. ... Our son is now in an extremely grave condition. We wish to emphasize that we had no objection to the girl, but only opposed the marriage because of our son's age."