MONTIJO (de), Impératrice Eugénie (1826-1920)

MONTIJO (de), Impératrice Eugénie (1826-1920)

Autograph letter signed « Eugénie » to Marie-Thérèse Bartholoni
Farnborough Hill, 17th November 1892, 3 p. in-8° on mourning paper, with autograph envelope

Witnessing the splendour and wars of the Empire, the fallen Empress observes with hope the new boundaries between France with the former adversary of the Crimean campaign

« Chère Madame Bartholoni,
Le 15 novembre⁽¹⁾ n’est plus une fête pour moi comme autrefois en France, mais elle reste une occasion de rapprochement et je vous remercie de vos vœux affectueux.
L’emballement aux fêtes Franco-Russes a été général.⁽²⁾
Jamais on s’est tant embrassé et tant armé en Europe. Pourvu que ce soit un gage de paix !
Mes souvenirs à tous les vôtres et croyez à mes sentiments affectueux.
Eugénie
Je vous prie de remercier ma filleule de son aimable lettre. »

1/ Saint Eugenie was celebrated on November 15. Under the Empire, on the occasion of this event, great festivities were organized

2/ The Franco-Russian festivals, which began on October 18, 1893, lasted 16 days and were the pretext for grandiose and popular demonstrations in Toulon, Marseille, Lyon and Paris. They celebrated the political and military alliance with Tsarist Russia, the necessary “counterweight” to the “Triple Alliance” concluded between the German Empire, the Dual Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Kingdom of Italy on May 20, 1882.

Goddaughter of Chateaubriand and lady-in-waiting at the Tuileries of Princess Julie Bonaparte, Madame Bartholoni (1833-1910) was, by her beauty, one of the ornaments of the Court of the Second Empire. Born Marie-Thérèse Frisell (1833-1910), she was the wife of Anatole Bartholoni (1822-1902).
Madame Bartholoni held a brilliant salon, which inspired Marcel Proust. The writer actively frequented it in the years 1897-1899. Proust courted, for a time, one of Madame Bartholoni’s three daughters, Louise known as “Kiki” (1857-1933), goddaughter of Empress Eugenie.