Comtesse de Montebello

Overview

A young society beauty of the Lannes de Montebello family (descendants of Napoleon's marshal Jean Lannes, duc de Montebello) whom Marie meets in the aristocratic world of the Faubourg Saint-Germain in 1880 and admires in 1883.

References in Diary

• 087.0777 (4 April 1880): Mme Gavini warns Marie about the duchesse de Fitz-James's charity sale: «La d'Hervey de Saint Denis, la Montebello et la Trechern sont tout ce qu'il y a de plus insolent au monde, elles sont belles, jeunes, à la mode.»
• 087.0792 (6 April 1880): «En face la boutique de la comtesse de Montebello».
• 087.0810 (9 April 1880): «Mmes d'Hervey de Saint Denis et de Montebello n'ont rien fait et sont parties très mécontentes.»
• 098.0522 (17 March 1883): «Mme de Montebello avait sa fameuse robe blanche, en velours, épinglé, très simple à l'antique. Elle est d'une beauté littéralement éblouissante quoique ou parce que un peu trop grosse.»

The 1874 duellist and Cassagnac's 1881 opponent, Adrien Lannes de Montebello, are in MONTEBELLO.

Identity uncertain

We are not sure which comtesse de Montebello this is. Several women bore the title in 1880–1883, the wives of the younger sons and grandsons of the marshal's line. The best-known young one in Paris society was Albertine de Briey (1855–1930), who married comte Jean de Montebello (1848–1915) in 1874 and was celebrated for her beauty (Catherine Radziwiłł, France from Behind the Veil, 1914, as cited in online genealogical notes, searched 2026-10-22). She would fit «belles, jeunes, à la mode» (aged about 25 in 1880), but nothing in the diary names her husband, and the Mon Journal t.13 and t.15 indexes give no first name (searched 2026-10-22). Candidate 0.6. Society columns of April 1880 on the duchesse de Fitz-James's sale (Le Figaro, Le Gaulois, on Gallica) would settle it. If you can identify this lady, we would be glad to hear from you.