Prince Ipsilani

Overview

A prince «Ipsilani» whom Marie notes at Ostend in August 1874 and dreams about in November; the name is that of the Greek Phanariot family Ypsilantis (Ypsilanti), princely in Russian and Romanian history (en.wikipedia «Ypsilantis family»). The Mon Journal t.4 index has «Ipsilani (prince), 101, 203». The diary does not say which member of the family he is.

Relevance to Marie

17 August 1874, at the Ostend races: «J'ai vu le Bec et le prince Ipsilani, il était étonné de me voir, m'a beaucoup regardée de tous les côtés» (023.0154). On 9 November 1874 in Nice she dreams all night of «les princes Ipsilani et Wittgenstein» whom she expects to meet in the street (025.0188); see PRINCE_WITTGENSTEIN.

Identity uncertain

The best-known Ypsilanti of the time, Prince Gregory Ypsilanti (1835–1886), a Greek diplomat who served in Vienna (1867–80) and Paris (1876–80) (genealogy summary from a family-history site), is a possible candidate, but no source we found puts any Ypsilanti at Ostend in 1874, so the identification is not established. If you can identify him, we would be glad to hear from you.

References in Diary

• 1874-08-17 (023.0154); 1874-11-09 (025.0188)

Sources

en.wikipedia «Ypsilantis family» (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypsilantis_family); Mon Journal t.4 index.