Albert, 4th duc de Broglie

Albert, duc de Broglie
Prime Minister of France
In office 24 May 1873 – 22 May 1874
Preceded by	Jules Dufaure
Succeeded by	Ernest Courtot de Cissey
In office 17 May 1877 – 23 November 1877
Preceded by	Jules Simon
Succeeded by	Gaëtan de Rochebouët
Personal details
Born	13 June 1821 Paris
Died	19 January 1901(1901-01-19) (aged 79) Paris
Political party	Orléanist

Arms de Broglie

Jacques-Victor-Albert, 4th duc de Broglie (French: [albɛʁ dəbʁœj]; 13 June 1821 – 19 January 1901) was a French monarchist politician, diplomat and writer (of historical works and translations).

Biography

Albert de Broglie was born in Paris, France, the eldest son of Victor, 3rd duc de Broglie, a liberal statesman of the July Monarchy,^[1] and Albertine, baroness Staël von Holstein, the fourth child of Madame de Staël. He was therefore the great-grandson of Jacques Necker.

After a brief diplomatic career at Madrid and Rome, the revolution of 1848 caused Albert de Broglie to withdraw from public life and devote himself to literature. He had already published a translation of the religious system of Leibniz (1846). He now at once made his mark by his contributions to the Revue des deux mondes and the Orleanist and clerical organ Le Correspondant. These, and other contributions, brought him the succession to Lacordaire's seat in the Académie française in 1862, joining his father in this august society.^[1]

In 1870 he succeeded his father as the 4th duc de Broglie, having previously been styled prince de Broglie. In the following year he was elected to the National Assembly for the département of the Eure, and a few days later (on 19 February) was appointed French Ambassador to London.^[2]

In March 1872, however, in consequence of criticisms of his negotiations concerning the commercial treaties between Britain and France, he resigned his post and took his seat in the Assembly, where he became the leading light of the monarchical campaign against President Thiers.^[3]

On the replacement of the latter by Marshal Mac-Mahon, the duc de Broglie became President of the Council and Minister for Foreign Affairs (May 1873), but in the reconstruction of the ministry on 26 November, after the passing of the Septennate, transferred himself to become the Minister of the Interior. His tenure of office was marked by an extreme conservatism, which roused the bitter hatred of the Republicans, while he alienated the Legitimist Party by his friendly relations with the Bonapartists, and the Bonapartists by an attempt to effect a compromise between the rival claimants to the monarchy.^[3]

The result was the fall of the cabinet on 16 May 1874. Three years later (on 16 May 1877) he was entrusted with the formation of a new Cabinet, with the object of appealing to the country and securing a new chamber more favorable to the reactionaries than its predecessor had been. The result, however, was a decisive Republican majority. The duc de Broglie was defeated in his own district, and resigned office on 20 November. Defeated in 1885, he abandoned politics and reverted to his historical work, publishing a series of historical studies and biographies. He died in Paris on 19 January 1901, aged 79.^[3]

Bibliography

De Broglie edited:^[3]

• The Souvenirs of his father (1886, etc.)
• The Mémoires de Talleyrand (1891, etc.)
• Letters of the Duchess Albertine de Broglie (1896)

He published:^[3]

• Le Secret du roi, Correspondance secrète de Louis XV avec ses agents diplomatiques, 1752–1774 (1878)
• Frédéric II et Marie Thérèse (1883)
• Frédéric II et Louis XV (1885)
• Marie Thérèse Impératrice (1888)
• Le Père Lacordaire (1889)
• Maurice de Saxe et le marquis d'Argenson (1891)
• La Paix d'Aix-la-Chapelle (1892)
• L'Alliance autrichienne (1895)
• La Mission de M. de Gontaut-Biron à Berlin (1896)
• Voltaire avant et pendant la Guerre de Sept Ans (1898)
• Saint Ambroise (trans., Margaret Maitland in the series, The Saints) (1899)

Family

The Princesse de Broglie, the 1853 portrait of Princesse Albert de Broglie, née Joséphine-Eléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.

On 18 June 1845, styled Prince de Broglie, he married Joséphine-Eléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825–1860).^[4]

They had the following children:

• Louis-Alphonse-Victor, 5th duc de Broglie (1846 – 1906) father of the scientist brothers including the 7th Duke, the Nobel Laureate.
• Maurice (1848 – 1862)
• Henri-Amédée (1849 – 1917)
• François-Marie-Albert (1851 – 1939) great-grandfather of the present duke, Victor-François, 8th duc de Broglie (b. 1949).
• César-Paul-Emmanuel (1854 – 1926)

Honours and titles

• Duke of France (succeeded as 4th Duke of Broglie 1870)
• Chevalier, Légion d'honneur (1845)

Notes

References

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Broglie, de s.v. Jacques Victor Albert, Duc de Broglie". Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 626–628.

Further reading

•  Lebars, Jean (1907). "Jacques-Victor-Albert, Duc de Broglie". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• "Les Immortels: Albert de Broglie" (in French). Académie française. 2009. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
• Theroff, Paul (2005). "Broglie Genealogy". Paul Theroff's Royal Genealogy Site. Retrieved 8 January 2009.

External links

• www.academie-francaise.fr
• Works by Albert, 4th duc de Broglie at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Albert, 4th duc de Broglie at Internet Archive