Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord

Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord (1 August 1787, Paris - 14 May 1872, Florence), second Duke of Talleyrand, 2nd Duke of Dino, was a French general of the Napoleonic Wars. As the son of Archambaud de Talleyrand-Périgord (1762-1838) and Madeleine Olivier de Senozan de Viriville (1764-1794), he was the nephew of the minister Talleyrand. He later married Dorothea von Biron.

Life

His uncle Talleyrand sought a high position for Edmond. He could not rise in France, since Napoleon had banned all French heiresses from marrying outside the French nobility and since Talleyrand had fallen from favour in 1807 after his resignation as Foreign Minister. Thus, at the Congress of Erfurt in 1808 he approached Tsar Alexander I of Russia for permission for a marriage between Edmond and Dorothea von Biron, as a reward for Talleyrand's diplomatic services. Talleyrand was certain of gaining permission from the bride's mother, since he was on friendly terms with her and since payment of her annual apanage was dependent on Russia. Edmond married Dorothea on 21 April 1809 in Frankfurt am Main. Though Edmond was indifferent about the match, she was from German-Baltic nobility, as the illegitimate daughter of Alexander Batowski and Dorothea von Medem (though her mother's husband Peter von Biron, last duke of Courland, acknowledged her as his own).

Edmond and his wife had three children - Napoléon Louis (1811–1898), Dorothée (1812–1814), Alexandre (1813–1894) - but by 1812 their married life was over, with Dorothea having become Talleyrand's lover and (after his death in 1838) his sole heir. They first separated in March 1816 and their official separation from Edmond came in 1824. In 1812 Edmond also received a regiment in Brescia (north Italy) from Talleyrand, and on 19th September 1813 was promoted to oberst. He served in the War of the Sixth Coalition, commanding three Chasseur regiments under major-general Leopold Wilhelm von Dobschütz (1763–1836) at the battle of Mühlberg in 1813, where he was captured. By October 1823 he had became lieutenant-general.

External links

* [http://genealogia.netopia.pt/pessoas/pes_show.php?id=173510 Family tree with portraits]
* [http://web.genealogie.free.fr/Les_dynasties/Les_dynasties_celebres/France/Dynastie_de_Talleyrand.htm Talleyrand dynasty]