Marquis de Custine
| Astolphe de Custine | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Astolphe-Louis-Léonor, Marquis de Custine March 18, 1790 Niderviller, France |
| Died | October 18, 1857 Paris, France |
| Resting place | Chapelle d'Auquainville, Auquainville, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France |
Astolphe-Louis-Léonor, Marquis de Custine (18 March 1790 – 25 September 1857) was a French and writer who is best known for his travel writing, in particular his account of his visit to Russia La Russie en 1839. This work documents not only Custine's travels through the Russian empire, but also the social fabric, economy, and way of life during the reign of Nicholas I.
Astolphe de Custine was born in Niderviller, Lorraine, of French nobility. His father's family had possessed the title marquis since the early 18th century and owned famous porcelain works. His mother, Delphine de Sabran, Marquise de Custine, also came from a prestigious family and was noted for her intelligence and great beauty.
Custine's father and grandfather both sympathized with the French Revolution but were both guillotined. Custine's mother barely escaped the same fate in prison. Subsequent to the overthrow of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror, notorious Minister of Police under Napoleon Joseph Fouché allowed the Marquise to repair her fortune.
Under direction of his strong-willed mother, Custine was raised in an unsettled social atmosphere among the scattered and exiled surviving aristocracy of France. This brought him into frequent contact with noted emigres, such as his mother's ardent admirer François-René de Chateaubriand, considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature. Her château of Fervaques, near Lisieux, in Normandy, was purchased from the Duc de Laval in October 1803, and Chateaubriand noted his visits between 1804 and 1806 and discussed both the Marquise and Custine in Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe. She died at Bex, in Vaud, Switzerland, July 13, 1826.
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