For more than two decades, despite his concerted efforts, he would fail to succeed on taking possession. (September 29) A Category 3 hurricane hits New Orleans. Culminating in an exquisite costumed Founders’ Ball overlooking Jackson Square, along with Honored … Baron Joseph Delfau de Pontalba was a greedy man with wild mood swings. Her father, Andres Almonester y Rojas, had been a wealthy New Orleans notary and politician who amassed a fortune in colonial real estate with the indulgence of Spanish authorities. For our first installment, Susan sits down with Pierre de Pontalba from his family’s Château de Mont-l'Évêque in Senlis, France. This historic brick building was constructed for Baron de Pontalba by architect-builders Gurlie & Guillot in 1835. Aside, Micaela and Celestin speak of love and agree to meet again. The Louisiana Museum Foundation is excited to launch our Inaugual Founders Ball. Over time it caused a big wedge between the couple, especially because the Baron believed he was cheated on the dowry. Baron de Pontalba (1810) Baron de Belfort (1868) pour la branche aînée; Notes et références So much of Louisiana’s early history has been well-preserved by the Pontalba family. (THNOC, 1974.25.27.358) Micaela began to suspect their intentions when she discovered that the elder Pontalba had no intention of fulfilling his side of the marriage contract and was appropriating her money. Her left breast was disfigured and two of her fingers mutilated. He believed he should have received a lot more- $40,000 in cash plus jewelry wasn’t enough! Celestin’s father, Baron Joseph Delfau de Pontalba, wanted control over Micaela’s entire inheritance. 2nd floor features 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. Almonester was seventy years old when Micaela was born, and died just three years later. Smart, beautiful, and sole heiress to one of the most prominent (and wealthy) couples in 19th century New Orleans, she was destined to do great things. Joseph-Xavier Delfau de Pontalba, ou Joseph-Xavier de Pontalba né le 11 février 1754 à La Nouvelle-Orléans et mort le 20 octobre 1834 à Mont-l'Évêque, est un … The LMF was instrumental in re-connecting the Pontalba family to Louisiana. Thea Musgrave’s opera Pontalba was commissioned as a fitting France-Louisiana subject to commemorate the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial of 2003. The Baron de Pontalba, who is French, is pleased, since his business affairs suffered disastrously under the Spanish administration. Several lawsuits later, she received her separation. Her marriage ended dramatically after her father-in-law, the Baron Joseph Delfau de Pontalba, attempted to take her life and then took his own. Her mother had wisely contracted for a small portion of the money to be used as a dowry. The arched opening leads to income producing retail space, and stairwell leading to living above. The Pontalba Buildings receive minimal damage, in spite of the nearby Presbytere’s loss of its cupola. Armes : De gueules, à deux faux d'argent, passés en sautoir, les fers en bas et adossés ; au chef de sinople, chargé de trois rocs d'échiquier d'or [3]. The LMF continues to work closely with this wonderful family in the effort to share these stories. If she visited New Orleans, she was accused of deserting her husband. That evening, after brooding through the day, he took his own life with the same pistols. The Baroness de Pontalba is credited with building the … The Baron de Pontalba was so angered by her behavior that he shot her four times in the chest. Here, Micaela Almonester y Rojas, Baroness de Pontalba, immortalized her story in the heart of the French Quarter. The building on the other side, fronting Rue St. Ann, is the lower Pontalba Building. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. It was a quarter of her worth, and he wanted it all! Baroness de Pontalba lived in New Orleans as an adult for fewer than four years, but her mark on the city is indelible. In 1777 the crown allowed him to acquire public land on both sides of the town square, which he developed into lucrative rental property and the base of a fortune. These letters are part of the Pontalba family archives in Mont-l’Évêque, France where they’ve been since 1807. Unfortunately, she would have to go through decades of misery before achieving them. Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba – Photo Courtesy of Louisiana State Museum. She inherited the title of Baroness, separated from her husband, and a dozen years later returned to New Orleans. She is known to history as the “Baroness Pontalba,” a title inherited by a lackluster husband as she was about to divorce him. Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester y Rojas, Baroness de Pontalba (November 6, 1795- April 20, 1874) was a wealthy New Orleans-born aristocrat, businesswoman and real estate developer, and one of the most dynamic personalities of that city's history. Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester y Rojas, baronesa de Pontalba (6 de noviembre de 1795 1 - 20 de abril de 1874) fue una acaudalada aristócrata nacida en Nueva Orleans y una de las personalidades más dinámicas de la historia de esa ciudad. The opera was commissioned by New Orleans Opera to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. The Pontalba buildings, which had fallen into In 1811, Micaela’s mother Louise started sniffing around to find her 15-year … Colonel de Pontalba was made a Knight of St Louis in 1814. and died at Mont-l'Eveque France in 1834. French law provided a “head and master” marital regime, but husbands had grave obligations to account for their wives’ funds, mortgaging their own assets as guarantee. Baron de Pontalba A color reproduction of Baron de Pontalba. Pontalba is an opera in two acts composed by Thea Musgrave. No contradiction was greater than the chasm between her privileged life and her sufferings at the hand of her husband’s family. She lived to build the elegant row houses known to history as the Pontalba Buildings, on Jackson Square, and a vast Parisian hotel, now used as the American Embassy. It soon became apparent that the elder de Pontalba was intent on seizing the Almonester fortune. Scene II At the Pontalba home, the family discusses the repercussions … Contemporaries called her persistent, bright-eyed, intelligent, vivacious, prompt, shrewd and business like. She is known to history as the “Baroness Pontalba,” a title inherited by a lackluster husband as she was about to divorce him. Intimate Enemies, a riveting 1997 biography by Christina Vella, reads like a novel. Born in 1795, she was married to her cousin Xavier Celestin de Pontalba at the age of fifteen. Inspired by Decline: Old Quarter Feeds Creativity. 1918 micaela’s grandson edouard, the last baron de pontalba, dies in paris. She grew up in New Orleans where she completed her greatest work, but spent most of her adult life in Paris. The marriage produced 5 children, though only 3 sons lived to adulthood. Micaela Almonester Pontalba was the wealthiest woman in New Orleans, but her biographer called her a frump for her lamentable everyday wardrobe. With four round gunshots to the chest, fingers shattered, and blood pouring, Micaela survived. In 1830, Micaela defied her husband’s orders and traveled to the U.S. Pierre recently rediscovered the Baron’s diary, and its contents are fascinating! The artist, Gaston de Pontalba (1821–1875), was the youngest of the baroness’s three sons, and he accompanied her to New Orleans, along with his brother Alfred and childhood friend Eugène-Joseph Napoléon Klein. Dense and vibrantly written, it portrays its subject sympathetically. Her portrait as a young wife shows a woman of grace and reflection; her photograph at an older age shows a hardened veteran with unmistakably masculine features. Baron de Pontalba stood over her bleeding, unconscious body, yet he fired no more shots and returned to his study. In Paris she began a series of lawsuits to get a separation, but consistently lost to the strictures of French law on marriage. Micaela’s father- in- law, Baron de Pontalba, had orchestrated the marriage to his son. Musgrave also wrote the libretto which is loosely based on the life of Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, a prominent figure in 19th-century New Orleans. Pierre is a direct descendant of the first Baron de Pontalba, Joseph-Xavier, who recorded his personal reflections during the 1796 yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans in an epistolary diary! Baron and Baroness de Pontalbato make historic visit to Cabildo for Tricentennial Celebration Finale. Baroness de Pontalba occupied the mansion until her death in 1874, upon which it was willed to her heirs who sold the property to Baron Edmond James de Rothschild in 1876. Baroness Pontalba’s Buildings, an earlier and shorter work by the late architect Samuel Wilson, Jr. and historian Leonard Huber, shows respect for her accomplishments in building the Pontalba Buildings, but lacks the pathos of the full story. Micaëla Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, led the construction of two massive buildings lining Jackson Square starting in 1849. Cabildo Costume Ball will honor Pontalba legacy with Charles-Edouard and Isabelle, Baron and Baroness de Pontalba, from le château de Mont-l’Évêque, December 1, 2018! After her wedding, Micaela was promptly whisked from New Orleans to Mont l’Eveque, the Pontalba family chateau near Paris. Baroness Pontalba. She conceived the Pontalba Buildings in New Orleans as two magnificent blocks of row houses facing each other on Jackson Square. Because of the Baron’s death, Celestin took the rank, and Micaela was awarded the title of Baroness de Pontalba. Special thanks to Pierre de Pontalba, Wynne R. Miller and Audrey Canalès for their editing and translation efforts! -Louisiana Life Magazine, November 2018. Below are a collection of letter excerpts from an epistolary diary of the first Baron, Joseph-Xavier de Pontalba, to his wife, Louise Le Breton des Chapelles in 1796 during the first documented yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans. 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