Élisabeth de Gramont

Élisabeth de Gramont
Élisabeth de Gramont in 1889
Born	Antonia Corisande Élisabeth de Gramont (1875-04-23)23 April 1875 Nancy, France
Died	6 December 1954(1954-12-06) (aged 79) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Author

Antoinette Corisande Élisabeth, Duchess of Clermont-Tonnerre (née de Gramont; 23 April 1875 – 6 December 1954) was a French writer of the early 20th century, best known for her long-term lesbian relationship with Natalie Clifford Barney. A descendant of Henry IV of France, Élisabeth de Gramont had grown up among the highest ; when she was a child, according to Janet Flanner, "peasants on her farm... begged her not to clean her shoes before entering their houses". She looked back on this lost world of wealth and privilege with little regret, and became known as the "red duchess" for her support of socialism.

She was a close friend, and sometimes critic of writer Marcel Proust, whom she had met on 9 June 1903.

She was born Antonia Corisande Élisabeth de Gramont in Nancy, France. Called "Lily", she was the daughter of Agénor, 11th duc de Gramont, and his wife, née Princesse Isabelle de Beauvau-Craon. Her mother died giving birth to her, and her father remarried the wealthy Marguerite de Rothschild.

Natalie Barney and Duchess de Clermont-Tonnerre first met in the spring of 1909, became lovers on 1 May 1910, a date that became their anniversary. Although neither was faithful to the other sexually, they were devoted to one another for their entire lives. She was married to Philibert, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre and had two daughters in 1909, when she met Natalie Barney. Her husband is said to have been violent and tyrannical, but there is little confirmation to that. The Duchesse accepted Barney's nonmonogamy—perhaps reluctantly at first—and went out of her way to be gracious to Barney's other lovers. For example, she always included Romaine Brooks, another of Barney's lovers, when she invited Barney to vacation in the country.

On 20 June 1918 the two filed an "unofficial" but, at least to them, binding "marriage contract". The contract stated, in part;