Elisabeth, comtesse Greffulhe

Princess Marie Anatole Louise Elisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (11 July 1860–21 August 1952), best known by her married name, Elisabeth, comtesse Greffulhe, was a renowned beauty, and queen of the salons of the Faubourg Saint-Germain.

She was born in Paris, the daughter of Prince Marie Joseph Guy Henry Philippe de Caraman-Chimay (1836-1892) and his wife Marie de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1834-1884). She was a cousin of the exquisite aesthete comte Robert de Montesquiou, for whom she entertained a necessarily unrequited love, and in concert with him was in contact with the cream of Parisian society, whom she regularly entertained at her salon in the rue d'Astorg.

She married Henri Jules Charles Emanuel comte Greffulhe (1848-1932), of the Belgian family of bankers, on 28 September 1881. They had one daughter, Elaine (1882-1958), who married Armand, 12th duc de Gramont.

The comtesse helped establish the art of James Whistler, and she actively promoted such artists as Auguste Rodin, Antonio de La Gandara and Gustave Moreau. For her Gabriel Fauré composed his Pavane; it received its first full performance, with the optional chorus, at a garden party she held in the Bois de Boulogne. She was a patron of Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes", and launched a fashion for greyhound racing.

She is one of many probable inspirations for the character of the duchesse de Guermantes in Marcel Proust's "À la recherche du temps perdu".

She died in Geneva, Switzerland

References

*Newton, Joy, 'Whistler's French Connections: Count Robert de Montesquiou and Countess Greffulhe,' "Laurels", vol. 53, no. 1
*Michel-Thiriet, Philippe, "The Book of Proust", London, 1989
*Munhall, Edgar, "Whistler and Montesquiou. The Butterfly and the Bat", New York, 1995.