Martha Marie Élisabeth Antoine de Chimay (née Manset; 20 March 1926 – 2 August 2023) was a French-born Belgian writer and princess. She wrote a work on

Thérésa Tallien Thérésa Cabarrus, Madame Tallien (31 July 1773 – 15 January 1835) was a Spanish-born French noblewoman and socialite who became Princess of Chimay. Life Early life She was born Juana María Ignacia Teresa de Cabarrús y Galabert in Ca ...

as well as an autobiography.

Biography

Born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

on 20 March 1926, she was the daughter of Octave Manset and Marie-Charlotte Guestier, whose families were in the wine business. Her parents died in a car accident in 1939 and her brother, Édouard, died in 1940 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On 18 December 1947, she married Élie de Riquet,

Prince de Chimay Prince of Chimay is a title of Belgian nobility, 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 (b. 1948). The main residence ...

, a descendant of

Pierre-Paul Riquet Pierre-Paul Riquet, Baron de Bonrepos (; 29 June 1609 (some sources say 1604) – 4 October 1680) was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi. Early life Born as Paul Riquet in Béziers, Hérault, Fran ...

, the engineer responsible for constructing the

Canal du Midi The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (). Originally named the ''Canal Royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considered one of the g ...

. They had three children: Philippe (born 1948), Marie-Gilone (born 1950), and Alexandra (born 1952). A close friend of

Fabiola of Belgium Fabiola Fernanda María-de-las-Victorias Antonia Adelaida de Mora y Aragón (11 June 1928 – 5 December 2014) was Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Baudouin from their marriage in 1960 until his death in 1993. The couple had no child ...

, de Chimay immersed herself in the heritage of the and preservation of the archives of the Chimay Castle. She also held a Baroque music festival from 1957 to 1980. Élisabeth de Chimay died in

Chimay Chimay (, ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. In 2006, Chimay had a population of 9,774. The area is 197.10 km2 which gives a population density ...

on 2 August 2023, at the age of 97.

Publications

*''La Princesse des Chimères'' (1993) *''La Fin d'un siècle, souvenirs'' (2000)

Distinctions

*Commander of the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

*Knights of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chimay, Elisabeth DE 1926 births 2023 deaths Elisabeth Belgian writers Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Writers from Bordeaux