Antoine
X
10th Duc de Gramont
(1819-80)
Other names: Antoine-Alfred-Agénor[1]
Titles and Honours
12th Prince de Bidache, 1855-80†[1]
Duc de Guiche, 1836[1]
Comte d'Aure, 1855-80†[1]
Comte de Louvigny, 1855-80†[1]
Comte de Gramont, 1819[1]
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 1866 (France)[1]
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, 1860 (France)[1]
Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX, 1861 (Papal)[1]
Commander of the Legion of Honour, 1857 (France)[1]
Officer of the Legion of Honour, 1854 (France)[2]
Knight of the Legion of Honour, 1850 (France)[2]
Grand Cross of the Friedrich Order, 1853 (Württemberg)[1]
Grand Cross of the Order of St Stephen of Hungary (Hungary)[1]
Grand Cross of the Order of St Sylvester (Papal)[1]
Knight Grand Cross of the Orders of Saint Maurice and Saint Lazarus (Italy)[1]
Positions Held
Minister of foreign affairs, 1870[3]
French ambassador to Vienna, 1861[1]
French ambassador to Rome, 1857[1]
Envoy extraordinary to Sardinia, 1853[1]
Minister plenipotentiary at Turin, 1852[3]
Minister plenipotentiary at Württemberg, 1852[1]
Minister plenipotentiary at Hesse, 1851[1]
Biographical
French diplomatist and statesman, Antoine was educated at the École Polytechnique,
and early gave up the army for diplomacy. It was not, however, until after
the coup d’état of 1851, which made Louis Napoleon supreme in France,
that he became conspicuous as a diplomat. As minister of foreign affairs
in the Ollivier cabinet, he was largely, though not entirely, responsible
for the bungling of the negotiations between France and Prussia arising
out of the candidature of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern for the throne
of Spain, which led to the disastrous war of 1870-71. The exact share
of Antoine in this responsibility has been the subject of much controversy.
To France and to the world, he was responsible for the policy which put
his country definitely into the wrong in the eyes of Europe, and enabled
Bismarck to administer to her the slap in the face, as Gramont called
it in the Chamber, by means of the mutilated 'EMS telegram' which was
the immediate cause of the French declaration of war. After the defeat
of Weissenburg, Antoine resigned office with the rest of the Ollivier
ministry, and after the revolution of September he went to England, returning
after the war to Paris. During his retirement he published various apologies
for his policy in 1870.[3]
Place of birth: Paris[4]
Place of death: Paris[4]
Sources
1. A. de Gramont. Histoire et généalogie de la maison de Gramont. Paris: Schlesinger Frères, 1874.
2. Ministère de la Culture: Archives Nationales. Présentation de la base de données Léonore (Légion d'honneur)
3. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, 11th edn, vol. 12. New York: Encyclopaedia Britannica Co., 1911.
4. Societe des Amis de l'Almanach de Saxe Gotha. House of Gramont, Almanach de Gotha, 2011.
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