Charles-Jean-Marie-Félix, '' marquis'' de La Valette (25 November 1806 – 2 May 1881) was a French politician and diplomat.

Career

Charles de La Valette was

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and of Foreign Affairs in the government of Emperor Napoleon III. He was French Ambassador to Constantinople from 1851-53, before the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

, then served as a

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

, before a posting to the Vatican (an ancestral family member

Jean Parisot de Valette Fra' Jean "Parisot" de la Valette (4 February 1495 – 21 August 1568) was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the ''Langue de Pr ...

had been Grand Master of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

). An

Anglophile An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. Etymology The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "frien ...

, he finally returned to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in an official capacity as French Ambassador from 1869 to 1870.

Personal life

The Marquis married firstly Maria Garrow Birkett at London in 1828. Maria, a daughter of the late Daniel Birkett, Esq., of Isleworth, died in 1831, aged 24. In 1842, he married secondly to Adeline Fowle Welles (1799–1869), the widow of a Boston banker Samuel Welles, who died in 1841. After twenty-seven years of marriage, Adeline died in 1869. He married thirdly, in 1871, Georgiana-Gabrielle de Flahaut, '' marquise douairière de La Valette'', who died in 1907; she was sister of Emily, Dowager Marchioness of Lansdowne.

Honours

Marquis de France * Legion Honneur GC ribbon

Grand-croix,

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Chevalier de Malte

References

External links

www.landrucimetieres.fr

www.vam.ac.uk

www.interieur.gouv.fr

www.burkespeerage.com

Bust of la Marquise de la Valette
at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

1806 births 1881 deaths People from Oise French marquesses Orléanists Bonapartists French Foreign Ministers French interior ministers Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy French Senators of the Second Empire Ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom 19th-century French diplomats Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Knights of Malta {{France-noble-stub

Career

Personal life

Honours

See also

References

External links