Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, Count D'Orsay (4 September 1801–4 August 1852) was a French amateur artist, dandy, and man of fashion in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 1801 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

He was born in Paris, the son of General D'Orsay, a Bonapartist officer. Through his mother he was grandson by a morganatic marriage of the king of Württemberg. In his youth he entered the French army, and served as a garde du corps of Louis XVIII. In 1822, while stationed at Valence on the Rhone, he formed an acquaintance with the earl and countess of Blessington, which quickly ripened into intimacy, and at the invitation of the earl he accompanied the party on their tour through Italy. The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Bonapartism From MarxWiki Government that is formed when class rule is not secure and a military police and state bureaucracy intervenes to establish order. ... A morganatic marriage is a type of marriage which can be contracted in certain countries, usually between persons of unequal social rank (unebenbürtig in German), which prevents the passage of the husbands titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage. ... Württemberg (often spelled Wurttemberg in English) refers to an area and a former state in Swabia, a region in south-western Germany. ... Louis XVIII (November 17, 1755 - September 16, 1824) was King of France and Navarre from 1814 (although he declared that he considered his reign to have begun in 1795) until his death in 1824, with a brief break in 1815 due to Napoleons return in the Hundred Days. ... Valence is a scientific term in chemistry to describe electrons in the outermost orbital. ... Marguerite, countess of Blessington (September 1, 1789 - June 4, 1849), Irish novelist and miscellaneous writer, daughter of Edmund Power, a small landowner, was born near Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. ...

In the spring of 1823 he met Lord Byron at Genoa, and the published correspondence of the poet at this period contains numerous references to d'Orsay's gifts and accomplishments, and to his peculiar relationship to the Blessington family. A diary which d'Orsay had kept during a visit to London in 1821–1822 was submitted to Byron's inspection, and was much praised by him for the knowledge of men and manners and the keen faculty of observation it displayed. 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Lord Byron, English poet George Gordon (Noel) Byron, 6th Baron Byron (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824), English Romantic poet, was the most renowned English-language poet of his day. ... Location within Italy Flag of Genoa Christopher Columbus monument in Piazza Aquaverde Genoa (Italian Genova, Genoese Zena, French Gênes) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... St. ... 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1822 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

On December 1, 1827 Count D'Orsay married Lady Harriet Gardiner, a girl of fifteen, the daughter of Lord Blessington by his previous wife. The union, if it rendered his connection with the Blessington family less ostensibly equivocal than before, was in other respects an unhappy one, and a separation took place almost immediately. December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

After the death of Lord Blessington, which occurred in 1829, the widowed countess returned to England, accompanied by d'Orsay, and her home, first at Seamore Place, then at Gore House, soon became a resort of the fashionable literary and artistic society of London, which found an equal attraction in host and in hostess. The count's charming manner, brilliant wit, and artistic faculty were accompanied by benevolent moral qualities, which endeared him to all his associates. His skill as a painter and sculptor was shown in numerous portraits and statuettes representing his friends, which were marked by great vigour and truthfulness, if wanting in the finish that can only be reached by persistent discipline. 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

It was at Gore House that d'Orsay met Benjamin Disraeli and Edward Bulwer-Lytton, themselves young men of fashion who dabbled in the arts. D'Orsay and Disraeli were good friends in the 1830s–to the point that Disraeli asked d'Orsay to be his second, when it appeared that Disraeli would fight a duel with Morgan O'Connell, the son of Irish leader Daniel O'Connell. D'Orsay declined, on the grounds of being a foreigner, and Disraeli went with Henry Baillie, a mutual friend. The character of Count Alcibiades de Mirabel in Disraeli's novel Henrietta Temple was modeled on d'Orsay, to whom the book was dedicated. The Right Honourable Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and author. ... Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (May 25, 1803 – January 18, 1873) was an English novelist, playwright, and politician. ... Events and Trends Electromagnetic induction discovered by Michael Faraday Dutch-speaking farmers known as Voortrekkers emigrate northwards from the Cape Colony Croquet invented in Ireland Railroad construction begins in earnest in the United States Egba refugees fleeing the Yoruba civil wars found the city of Abeokuta in south-west Nigeria... Morgan OConnell was a son of Irish politician Daniel OConnell. ... Daniel OConnell Daniel OConnell (August 6, 1776 – May 15, 1847), known as The Liberator or The Emancipator, was Irelands predominant politician in the first half of the nineteenth century. ...

Count d'Orsay had been from his youth a zealous Bonapartist, and one of the most frequent guests at Gore House was Prince Louis Napoleon. In 1849 he went bankrupt, and the establishment at Gore House being broken up, he went to Paris with Lady Blessington, who died a few weeks after their arrival. Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français... ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ...

He endeavoured to provide for himself by painting portraits. He was deep in the counsels of the prince president, but the relation between them was less cordial after the coup d'état, of which the count had by anticipation expressed his strong disapproval. His appointment to the post of director of fine arts was announced only a few days before his death from cancer of the spine. A coup détat (pronounced /ku de ta/), or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ...

References

• Blake, Robert. Disraeli. 1966.

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. Robert Norman William Blake, Baron Blake (December 23, 1916 - September 20, 2003) was an English historian, best known for his 1966 biography of Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. ... See also: 1965 in literature, other events of 1966, 1967 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), contend supporters, in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...