Duchess de Polignac
| Yolande de Polastron | |
|---|---|
Duchess of Polignac (1782) by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
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| Born |
8 September 1749 Paris, France |
| Died | 9 December 1793 (aged 44) Vienna, Austria, HRE |
| Occupation | Gouvernante des Enfants de France |
| Political party | ultra-Monarchist faction |
| Spouse(s) | Jules, comte de Polignac |
| Children |
Aglaé de Polignac Armand de Polignac Jules de Polignac Camille de Polignac |
| Parent(s) | Jean François Gabriel, comte de Polastron, and Jeanne Charlotte Hérault |
Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac (8 September 1749 – 9 December 1793) was the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette became the Queen of France. She was considered one of the great beauties of pre-Revolutionary society, but her extravagance and exclusivity earned her many enemies.
Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron was born in Paris in the reign of King Louis XV. Her parents were Jean François Gabriel, Count of Polastron, seigneur de Noueilles, Venerque and Grépiac, and Jeanne Charlotte Hérault de Vaucresson. As was customary with aristocrats, most of whom bore more than one Christian name, she was generally known by the last of her names (Gabrielle). Though she was born into a family of ancient aristocratic lineage, by the time of Gabrielle's birth, despite its exalted ancestry, the family was encumbered by many debts and its lifestyle was far from luxurious.
While Gabrielle was still an infant, her parents moved to the family Château of Noueilles, in the province of Languedoc in southern France. When Gabrielle was three, her mother died and her welfare was entrusted to an aunt, who arranged for her to receive a convent education.
At the age of 16, Gabrielle was betrothed to Jules François Armand, comte de Polignac, marquis de Mancini (1746–1817), whom she married on 7 July 1767, a few months short of her 18th birthday. Polignac's family had a "well-bred" ancestry similar to Gabrielle's family, and was in equally uncomfortable financial straits. At the time of his marriage, Polignac was serving in the Régiment de Royal Dragons ("1er régiment de dragons"), on an annual salary of 4,000 livres. Within a few years of the marriage, Jules and Gabrielle had two children: a daughter Aglaé and a son. Two more sons followed several years later, including Jules, prince de Polignac who became the prime minister of France in 1829, under Charles X.
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