Marie-Clotilde-Elisabeth Louise de Riquet (3 June 1837 – 8 November 1890) was a Belgian pianist. She was the eldest daughter of Michel Gabriel Alphonse Ferdinand de Riquet (1810–1865), created

prince de Chimay Prince of Chimay is a title of Belgian and Dutch nobility associated with the town of Chimay in what is now Belgium. The title is currently held by Philippe de Caraman-Chimay, 22nd Prince de Chimay. The main residence of the princely family is Ch ...

1834, for himself only, and Rosalie de Riquet de Caraman (1814–1872)

Life

In childhood she developed considerable aptitude as a pianist. On 11 April 1860 she married Eugène Arnould Henri Charles François Marie, comte

de Mercy De Mercy is a French locational surname, derived from places called Mercy in France.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Mercy Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 21 January 2016. Origins The De Mercy family rose to i ...

-Argenteau (22 August 1838 – 2 May 1888). She met Franz Liszt the next year. In 1866, she met emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and befriended him. After his defeat at the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...

, she visited him for a last time when he was a prisoner of the Prussians at

Schloss Wilhelmshöhe Schloss Wilhelmshöhe is a Neoclassical palace located in , a part of Kassel, Germany. It was built for Landgrave Wilhelm (William) IX of Hesse in the late 18th century. Emperor Wilhelm II made extensive use of it as a summer residence and p ...

and consoled him playing music. She later wrote a book about their four-year relationship, ''The Last Love of an Emperor''. In the early 1880s, she developed an interest in

Russian music Music of Russia denotes music produced from Russia and/or by Russians. Russia is a large and culturally diverse country, with many ethnic groups, each with their own locally developed music. Russian music also includes significant contributions ...

. This led to her studying the Russian language, translating some vocal music by several Russian composers, and arranging concerts and recitals of their music. Her advocacy of music by The Mighty Handful favored that of César Cui and facilitated the production of the latter's opera '' Prisoner of the Caucasus'' in Liège in 1886. Cui's collection of piano pieces entitled ''À Argenteau'' is a musical reminiscence of the count and countess' estate in Belgium. La Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on 8 November 1890 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Writings

*
César Cui: esquisse critique
'. Paris: Fischbacher, 1888. *''The Last Love of an Emperor'': reminiscences of the Comtesse Louise de Mercy-Argenteau, née Princesse de Caraman-Chimay, describing her association with the Emperor Napoléon III and the social and political part she played at the close of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page & Co., 1926.

Notes

References

*Bronne, Carlo. ''La Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau''. 2nd ed. Liège: Soledi, 1945. *Suttoni, Charles. "Liszt and Louise de Mercy-Argenteau," ''Journal of the American Liszt Society'', v. 34 (1993), pp. 1–10.

External links

* 1837 births 1890 deaths Belgian writers in French Deaths from cancer in Russia Belgian pianists Belgian women pianists Napoleon III 19th-century pianists 19th-century Belgian women musicians 19th-century women pianists {{Europe-noble-stub