Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba

Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba
Portrait of Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba in the Louisiana State Museum
Born	Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester y Rojas November 6, 1795 New Orleans, Louisiana
Died	April 20, 1874 Paris, France
Nationality	Spanish (by birth) French (by marriage) American (upon Louisiana's admission to Union)
Occupation	Businesswoman Real estate developer
Known for	The design and construction of the Pontalba Buildings in the French Quarter of New Orleans
Spouse(s)	Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba, Baron de Pontalba (m. 1811–74)
Children	Joseph Delfau de Pontalba Célestin Delfau de Pontalba Alfred Delfau de Pontalba Gaston Delfau de Pontalba Mathilde Delfau de Pontalba
Parent(s)	Andrés Almonester y Rojas Louise Denis de la Ronde

Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester y Rojas, Baroness de Pontalba (November 6, 1795- April 20, 1874) was a wealthy New Orleans-born aristocrat, businesswoman, and real estate developer, and one of the most dynamic personalities of that city's history.

Upon the death of her Spanish father, Andrés Almonester y Rojas in 1798, Micaela, as his only surviving child, inherited a considerable fortune; although the estate was controlled by her mother, Louise Denis de la Ronde. Following her marriage in 1811 to her French cousin, Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba, she moved to France. The marriage was not successful and she became a virtual prisoner at the de Pontalba chateau near Senlis. Having failed to gain possession of her entire inheritance, her father-in-law, Baron de Pontalba shot her four times at point-blank range with a pair of duelling pistols and then committed suicide. She survived the attack, although her left breast and two of her fingers were mutilated by gunfire. Her husband, Cèlestin succeeded his father as baron, and Micaela was henceforth styled Baroness de Pontalba. She eventually obtained a legal separation from him.

Micaela was responsible for the design and construction of the famous Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter. In 1855, she built the Hôtel de Pontalba in Paris, where she lived until her death in 1874. Her life was worthy of an operatic plot, and eventually became one: Pontalba: a Louisiana Legacy, composed by Thea Musgrave. A play by Diana E.H. Shortes entitled The Baroness Undressed, and several novels, are also based on her dramatic life.

Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester was born November 6, 1795, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the eldest daughter of Don Andres Almonester y Rojas, and his aristocratic French wife, Louise Denis de la Ronde, a member of one of the most illustrious Creole families in Louisiana. At the time of her birth, Louisiana was owned by Spain; however, the Spanish settlers were greatly outnumbered by the colony's previous owners - the French. Don Andres, a native of Mairena del Alcor, Andalucia, Spain, was a wealthy notary and politician who amassed a fortune in real estate and land transfers from his power on the Cabildo, the Spanish governing council of New Orleans, and his contacts with the Spanish Crown. On 20 March 1787, he married Louise Denis de la Ronde, who was 30 years his junior having been born on July 25, 1758. Louise was the eldest child of Pierre Denis de La Ronde (1726-1772), a grandson of René-Louis Chartier de Lotbinière and nephew of Simon-Pierre Denys de Bonaventure and Claude de Ramezay; his wife, Marie Madeleine (Broutin) de la Ronde, was the daughter of Ignace Francois Broutin, a royal engineer, architect, and commandant of the French militia at Fort Natchez.