Charles-Alexandre, Marquis de Ganay


Charles-Alexandre de Ganay, 3rd Marquis de Ganay was a French aristocrat, diplomat and art collector.

Early life

Charles-Alexandre was born on 29 April 1803 in Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy, France. He was the only son of Françoise Bonne de Virieu and Gen. Antoine-Charles de Ganay, 2nd Marquis de Ganay, a representative for Saône-et-Loire from 1810 to 1823.
His paternal grandfather was the Governor of Autun, Paul-Louis, 1st Marquis de Ganay and was married to Ana Marie Thérèse Gravier de Vergennes. They owned the Château de Visigneux. His maternal grandparents were Nicolas de Virieu de Beauvoir, Vicomte de Virieu, and Claudine de Maleteste, Vicomtesse de Virieu.

Career

A diplomat, he served as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in Italy. The United Provinces of Central Italy, a client state of the Kingdom of Sardinia, annexed Tuscany in 1859. Tuscany was formally annexed to Sardinia in 1860, as a part of the unification of Italy resulting in the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
After his father-in-law's death, his wife inherited the Château de Luins in the Swiss Canton of Vaud.
Ganay, and his son Etienne were both featured in James Tissot's 1868 group portrait painting The Circle of the Rue Royale. The painting depicted the gathering of the Circle of the Rue Royale, a male club founded in 1852 who commissioned the work, and takes place on one of the balconies of the Hôtel de Coislin, overlooking the Place de la Concorde. Each of the twelve subjects paid 1,000 francs for the painting to be made. Others in the painting included Gaston, Marquis de Galliffet, Prince Edmond de Polignac, the Comte Julien de Rochechouart, the Marquis René de Miramon, Baron Gaston de Saint-Maurice, Capt. Coleraine Vansittart, Baron Rodolphe Hottinguer, Marquis Alfred du Lau d'Allemans, Comte Alfred de La Tour-Maubourg, Charles Haas.

Personal life

In 1831, the Marquis de Ganay was married to Élisa Calixte de Pourtalès, a daughter of Count James-Alexandre de Pourtalès, a prominent banker and art collector who served as chamberlain to the King of Prussia Frederick William III. Together, they were the parents of:
His wife died in 1877. The Marquis de Ganay died on 4 January 1881 in Piedmont, Italy. After his death, a catalog featuring some of his rare and precious books, manuscripts and prints, was compiled and published in Paris.

Descendants

Through his eldest son, he was a grandfather of Marianne-Constance de Ganay, who never married, instead, becoming a nun and writer.
Through his second son Etienne, he was a grandfather of Marguerite de Ganay, wife of Arthur O'Connor ; Charles Aimé Jean, 6th Marquis de Ganay, husband of salonnière Berthe, Countess de Béhague ; Jacques André de Ganay, Count de Ganay, husband of Jeanne le Marois; Charlotte Gabrielle de Ganay, wife of Thierry, Prince d'Hénin, and Gérard de Ganay, husband of Zélie Schneider.