Françoise Zoé Mathilde Mosselman (1808–1880), known as Fanny Mosselman, was a Belgian noble and salonist, known as the ''maîtresse en titre'' (official

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

) of the duke

Charles de Morny Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, 1st Duc de Morny (; 15/16 September 181110 March 1865) was a French statesman. Biography Morny was born in Switzerland, and was the extra-marital son of Hortense de Beauharnais (the wife of Louis Bonaparte ...

Life

Daughter of the rich Belgian banker and captain of industry François-Dominique Mosselman and his wife Louise Tacqué, she was from a family with several business interests in Belgium, most notably the Vieille-Montagne mines. Her father had bought a

hôtel particulier () is the French term for a grand urban mansion, comparable to a Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...

in the Chaussée-d'Antin from the bankrupt banker Récamier, husband of

Juliette Juliette is a feminine personal name of French language, French origin. It is a diminutive of Julie (given name), Julie. People * Juliette Adam (1836–1936), née Lamber, French author and feminist * Juliette Atkinson (1873–1944), American ten ...

. After 1830 it became the residence of the first Belgian envoy, Charles Le Hon. In 1827 she married Charles Le Hon who was made a Belgian count in 1836, so she also held the title of comtesse Le Hon or Lehon. Nominally, they had three children - Eugène (born 1828) and Léopold (born 1832), the latter being supposed to be the son of her lover, the diplomat Charles-Joseph Bresson) - and Louise (born 1838) (Louise was fathered by

illegitimate son of

Hortense de Beauharnais Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (; , ; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Kingdom of Holland, Queen of Holland as the wife of King Louis Bonaparte. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Joséphi ...

). Fanny took several lovers, amongst them (so it is said) the duc d'Orléans and held an extremely brilliant

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

in Paris, attended by politicians, members of the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

royal family, journalists and writers - Balzac called her "Iris in light blue, the golden-haired ambassadress", whilst

Charles de Rémusat Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

commented "She had the spirit of a grand grisette, with a certain intelligence for affairs and intrigue" Around 1833, she met

, then a mere sous-lieutenant, but who occupied a position in high society as the illegitimate son of général de Flahaut and queen Hortense, duchess of Saint-Leu, and grandson of Talleyrand. Fernand de Montguyon took him to a reception at the Belgian embassy, where he and Fanny immediately fell in love and began a 25-year liaison. In the words of one historian, "Fanny chose a man over whom she had great influence and who allowed her freedom of movement and especially freedom to follow her heart".

Jean-Marie Rouart Jean-Marie Rouart (born 8 April 1943 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French novelist, essayist and journalist. He was elected to the Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institu ...

, ''Morny. Un voluptueux au pouvoir'', Paris, Gallimard, coll. Folio, 1997, p. 113 Her daughter Louise married Józef Stanisław Poniatowski.

Parisian residences

* 1831-1838 : Hotel Recamier, Chaussée d'Antin * 1838-1843 : Hotel de la Vaupaliere,

rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of the genus ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Mediterranean. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for it ...

* from 1843 : Hotel Le Hon, rond-point des Champs-Élysées

Bibliography

* Carlo Bronne, ''La comtesse Le Hon et la première ambassade de Belgique à Paris'', Brussels, 1951

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosselman, Fanny 1808 births 1880 deaths Belgian salon-holders People from Antwerp 19th-century Belgian people