Carlos de Morny
Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, better known as the Duke of Morny (Saint-Maurice, September 15, 1811 – Paris, March 10, 1865), was a French aristocrat, politician, and financier who served as the French ambassador to Saint Petersburg.
He was the illegitimate son of Hortense de Beauharnais (wife of Louis Bonaparte and Queen of Holland) and Auguste-Charles-Joseph de Flahaut, and thus half-brother of Napoleon III.
Biography
He was the result of the affair between Queen Hortense of Holland, wife of Louis Bonaparte, and Count Auguste-Charles-Joseph de Flahaut, although his birth certificate lists him as the legitimate son of Jean Auguste Hyacinthe Demorny, an officer in the Prussian army, with his birth date recorded as October 22.
"In my family line, we have been bastards from mother to son for three generations: I am the great-grandson of a king, grandson of a bishop, son of a queen, and brother of an emperor."
He was raised by his paternal grandmother and, after completing his studies at university, joined the military to serve his country. He was stationed in Algeria from 1834 to 1835 before returning to Paris in 1838. He then began his business career, acquiring a sugar beet enterprise, and eventually founded the Central Railway Company of France. He combined his business ventures with political activities.
Morny played a central role in the coup d'état in France in 1851, after which he became president of the council of Puy-de-Dôme, a position he held until his death.
Marriage and Children
He married Princess Sofia Trubetskoy, of Russian origin, in Saint Petersburg on December 26, 1856. They had the following children:
- Marie Eugénie de Morny, who married José Ramón Osorio y Heredia, 9th Count of la Corzana, Grandee of Spain, and 4th Marquis of los Arenales.
- Auguste, 2nd Duke of Morny, who married Carlota de Guzmán e Ybarra.
- Serge de Morny, a French army officer, who died unmarried.
- Mathilde de Morny, who after her divorce from Jacques Godart, Marquis of Belbeuf, dedicated herself to sculpture and painting, and openly acknowledged her homosexuality, becoming the lover of Liane de Pougy and the writer Colette.
He is the great-great-grandfather of Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska.
Bibliography
- Michel Carmona, Morny, the Vice-Emperor (Fayard, 2005).