Vicomtesse Pernetti

Overview

Valentine, vicomtesse Pernety, née Haussmann (the form «Pernetti» is a later spelling in Marie's text and in the t.16 index): the younger daughter of Baron Haussmann, the prefect of the Seine who rebuilt Paris. She married Vicomte Maurice Pernety on 14 March 1865 (Seward Project, person page 80379) and divorced him in 1891, when she married Georges Renouard (en.wikipedia, «Georges-Eugène Haussmann»; the Seward Project gives 1883 for the divorce, so sources differ).

Relevance to Marie

Marie meets her through Mme Gavini in the Paris spring of 1879 (084.0656: «la charmante Adeline voulait amener la vicomtesse Pernety et la Randouin mais elles n'ont pas osé»; Marie replies that she would be glad to see her at home). On 21 April 1879 Mme Gavini fetches her for the horse show (084.0712), and on 25 April she is in the Gavinis' party at the Opéra: «la vicomtesse Pernety (née Haussmann) en damas mauve et dentelle blanche, beaucoup de diamants» (084.0727). The identification as Haussmann's daughter is Marie's own («née Haussmann»), confirmed by the Mon Journal indexes: t.13 «Pernety (Valentine, vicomtesse, née Haussmann) : 61, 125, 217, 253», t.14 «Pernety (Valentine) vicomtesse, née Haussmann : 120, 312», t.16 «Pernetti (vicomtesse Valentine, née Haussmann) : 167, 238, 246». The t.13 index also has a separate line «Pernety (Adeline, vicomtesse)»; Adeline is Mme Gavini's first name in the diary, so that line looks like an indexing confusion, not a second person.

In July 1884 she is one of the guests at a small dinner in Paris: «Petit dîner. Les Gavini, vicomtesse Pernetti, Saint-Amand, Géry, Zuccarini» (105.0105; see ZUCCARINI). Earlier entries of this file said that no identification could be found; the index entries above settle it.

References in Diary

• 1879-04-13 (084.0656, 084.0657), 1879-04-21 (084.0712), 1879-04-25 (084.0727)
• 1884-07-10 (105.0105)

Sources

Seward Project, «Person Information» 80379 (https://sewardproject.org/person-public-fields/80379); en.wikipedia «Georges-Eugène Haussmann»; Mon Journal t.12–16 name indexes (content/_raw/tome12–16.docx).