Charles de MORNY
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Half-brother of Napoleon III, architect of the coup d'état.
Morny liked to call himself the son of a queen, brother of an emperor and grandson of a bishop, and it was true: born in 1811 to Queen Hortense and the Count of Flahaut, he was the half-brother of Napoleon III. He organised the coup d'état of 1851, presided over the Legislative Body, bought land along Haussmann's routes before anyone else, created Deauville and launched Sarah Bernhardt. He died in 1865.
The story
“In my line, we have been bastards from mother to son for three generations. I am the great-grandson of a king, the grandson of a bishop, the son of a queen and the brother of an emperor.” Charles de Morny was telling the truth: the natural son of Queen Hortense de Beauharnais and of the comte de Flahaut, himself the natural son of Talleyrand — a bishop before he was a minister — he was Napoleon III's half-brother.
Born at Saint-Maurice, in Switzerland, on 17 September 1811, an officer in Algeria, founder of a sugar refinery at Aulnat, deputy for the Puy-de-Dôme in 1842, co-founder of the Grand Central railway company, he took an active part in the coup of 2 December 1851, became minister of the interior, then president of the legislative body from 1854 to 1865.
Knowing where Haussmann's new streets would run, he bought land along the line of the future boulevards before anyone else knew it. He created Deauville and Le Vésinet, launched Sarah Bernhardt, took Alphonse Daudet as his secretary — who would turn him into the duc de Mora of Le Nabab. Ambassador to Russia in 1856, he married Princess Sophie Troubetskoy there; their daughter Mathilde would become a friend of Colette. Made a duke on 8 July 1862, he died in Paris on 10 March 1865.
His chapel, built in 1866 to designs by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, names no one: “SEPULTURE DE LA FAMILLE DU DUC DE MORNY.” Five years later the Communards made it their store of powder and ammunition — the monument of the emperor's half-brother serving the revolution that followed the Empire's fall.
The grave
A chapel built in 1866 to plans by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, with the contractor Victor Lemaire — one of the rare chapels in the cemetery signed by an architect of such renown. Its history exceeds its occupant: in 1871, the Communards made it their store of gunpowder and ammunition. The inscription, for its part, names no one in particular: “SEPULTURE DE LA FAMILLE DU DUC DE MORNY.” — grave of the family of the Duke of Morny. There also rest his wife Princess Sophie Troubetskoy and their daughter Mathilde, Colette's friend.
On site, do not miss
A chapel of 1866 signed by Viollet-le-Duc. Its inscription names no one: “SEPULTURE DE LA FAMILLE DU DUC DE MORNY” — grave of the family of the Duke of Morny. In 1871, the Communards stored their gunpowder there.
Visitors' questions
Where is the Duke of Morny's grave?
In Division 54, at the rond-point des travailleurs municipaux, beneath a chapel of 1866 signed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and the contractor Victor Lemaire. The inscription says only: “Sépulture de la famille du duc de Morny”.
Mathilde de MornyWhy did the Commune use his chapel?
Because it was large and it locked: in 1871 the Communards packed it with their powder and ammunition. So the monument of the Emperor's half-brother served the revolution that followed the Empire's fall.
Charles DelescluzeHow did he sum up his ancestry?
In a sentence that has outlived him: “I am the great-grandson of a king, the grandson of a bishop, the son of a queen and the brother of an emperor” — the natural son of Queen Hortense and the Count of Flahaut, himself the natural son of Talleyrand.
Joseph CaillauxWhat did he create?
Deauville and Le Vésinet, a sugar refinery at Aulnat, the Grand Central railway company. Knowing the line Haussmann's boulevards would take, he bought land and sold it on at ten times the price. He also launched Sarah Bernhardt's career.
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