Marie Say (1857–1943) was a French heiress and

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having tradit ...

Early life

Marie Say was born on 25 August 1857 in

Verrières-le-Buisson Verrières-le-Buisson () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is from the centre of Paris, in the Essonne department just outside the inner ring of the Île-de-France. The commune borders the river Bièvre. History T ...

near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. Her paternal grandfather,

Louis Auguste Say Louis Auguste Say (9 March 1774 in Lyon – 6 March 1840 in Paris) was a French businessman and economist. He founded large sugar refineries in Nantes and Paris, and the sugar company "Say", known after 1972 as Béghin-Say; as of 2002 it is a ...

, was the founder of the Say sugar company (now a subsidiary of

Tereos Tereos is a cooperative conglomerate, primarily active in the processed agricultural raw materials, in particular sugar, alcohol and starch markets. The company is headquartered in Moussy-le-Vieux, France. History In 1932, the Origny-Sainte-B ...

). Her father, Constant André Say, ran the family business, which sold sugar made from beetroot. Her uncle,

Jean-Baptiste Say Jean-Baptiste Say (; 5 January 1767 – 15 November 1832) was a liberal French economist and businessman who argued in favor of competition, free trade and lifting restraints on business. He is best known for Say's law—also known as the law o ...

, was an economist and formulator of

Say's law In classical economics, Say's law, or the law of markets, is the claim that the production of a product creates demand for another product by providing something of value which can be exchanged for that other product. So, production is the source ...

. Her sister, Jeanne (1848–1916), married Roland, Marquis de Cossé-Brissac (1843–1871), and her brother, Henry (1855–1899), succeeded his father at the Say refinery.

Adult life

Say purchased the

château de Chaumont The Château de Chaumont (), officially Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, is a castle (''château'') in Chaumont-sur-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France. The castle was founded in the 10th century by Odo I, Count of Blois. After Pierre d'Amboi ...

with her inheritance in 1875, at the age of seventeen. Shortly after, she married Prince Amédée de Broglie, at the

Eglise de la Madeleine , other name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = French , image = Madeleine Paris.jpg , landscape = , imagesize = , caption = , imagelink ...

in Paris. They had five children (Albert, Antoinette, Jacques, Robert and Marguerite) together. Say became known as Princess Amédée de Broglie. The couple entertained

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Q ...

Isabella II of Spain Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the success ...

and

Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi ( fa, رضا شاه پهلوی; ; originally Reza Khan (); 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was an Iranian Officer (armed forces), military officer, politician (who served as Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran), ...

as guests, receiving the gift of an elephant from another guest,

Jagatjit Singh Maharajah Sir Jagatjit Singh Sahib Bahadur (24 November 1872 – 19 June 1949) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Kapurthala State, Kapurthala in the British India, British Empire of India, from 1877 until his death, in 194 ...

. The couple organized performances by the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

and the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real ...

for their guests. They also resided at the Hôtel de Broglie, an ''

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...

'' in Paris. Say was widowed in 1917. In

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 ...

on 19 September 1930 she non-dynastically married the former Spanish

infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

, Prince Luís Fernando de Orleans y Borbón, he being then 41 years old and she 72 years old.Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser VIII. "Spanien". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1968, pp. 213–214. (German), (French). . According to Pierre de Cossé, Duc de Brissac, her second husband spent the vast majority of her fortune.

Death

Say died on 15 July 1943 in Paris.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Say, Marie 1857 births 1943 deaths People from Verrières-le-Buisson People from Loir-et-Cher Socialites from Paris House of Broglie