Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel
Dominique, Prince et Comte de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel (born 6 July 1950 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France), Officer of the Légion d’Honneur, is a member of the House of La Rochefoucauld and was the Grand Hospitaller of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (9 years) and the president of the French Association (14 years). He is today Vice-President of the Foundation of the Order and president of the historical academy. He is president of the foundation for Evangelization through the Media (FEM). The Prince branch of the family is closely linked with the Holy Mary apparitions in Pellevoisin (France) and the discovery of the Lascaux Caves which they owned with the marriage of Emmanuel, Prince and Count, Ambassadeur of the Order of Malta, and Simone Darblay. That branch is from the dukes of Estissac and due to their proximity with Napoléon, they are linked with Roman nobility with unions with the Borghese.
Family[edit]
La Rochefoucauld-Montbel married Pascale Marie Subtil (financial control and auditor expert, Dauphine University and Merit of the Order of Malta), in January 1984 at Connantre.[1] They have one son Count Gabriel (1987) and two daughters Marie, Dame of the Order of Malta and of Merit (married to Thibault Jabouley, Knight of the Order of Malta and of Merit) and Anne (married to Fabrizio Celestini, Knight of the Order of Malta, son of Marcello Celestini, Gentiluomo di Sua Santità, ambassadeur of the Order of Malta to Georgia then San Marino).[2]
La Rochefoucauld-Montbel and his wife Pascale own an old Forteress and Commanderie of the Order of Malta : Castle of L’Ormeteau.
Their son, Count Gabriel, civil engineer and MBA, pursues a career in banking, insurance and consulting. He is Knight of the Order of Malta of Honor and Devotion (2015) and Knight of Merit of the Order of Malta (2022). He is a member of the Jockey Club. He is engaged to British-born Camilla Tibbs (ne 1999).
His godmother was Anne de La Rochefoucauld, founder of the VMF (safeguard of French heritage), daughter of Prince Gabriel de La Rochefoucauld, writer and friend of Marcel Proust.
In the recent history, he is a descendant of :
- Jean-Joseph, Marquis Dessolles, grand cross of the Legion of honor, general under Bonaparte then Napoleon, Prime Minister of Louis XVIII and of the General Auguste Dampierre. Both having their names under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
- Adélaïde de La Rochefoucauld, cousin and dame d'honneur of Empress Joséphine and her husband Alexandre, ambassadeur of the Emperor, grand officer of the Legion of honor, son of the famous Francois XII, duke de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
- Louis-Joseph de Montbel, maréchal de camp, premier chambellan de Charles X.
- The General François de Négrier, grand officer of the Legion of honor, whose heart lays in the Invalides in Paris in the crypt of the governors. His nephew the General Oscar de Négrier, grand cross of the Legion of honor, was the godfather of Simone Darblay de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel.
- Basile Parent, one of the founders of société générale and CIC banks
- The La Rochefoucauld-Montbel were also close with the Polignac family.
La Rochefoucauld-Montbel is son of Charles Emmanuel, Prince and Count, and of Joanna Forbes.[1] He succeeded to his father as Prince (Fürst) in 2000, a title given to his great-grandfather Jules by the King of Bavaria in 1909. He succeeded also as Count (French title). The La Rochefoucauld-Montbel are present in the Almanach de Gotha.
Education and career[edit]
La Rochefoucauld-Montbel attended Worth School near Crawley, England (where he had as a teacher Fra' Andrew Bertie (who would then become Grand Master of the Order of Malta)), the Collège Champittet near Lausanne, and the Institut Florimont near Geneva.[2] He studied economics at the Institut supérieur du commerce de Paris.[2]
From 1975 to 2004. He pursued a career in finance, working mostly on the gold market and in exchange transactions.[2] He manages a real-estate consultancy service and a real-estate assets management company.[2]
He is President of the SMLH Paris 17th (members of Legion d’Honneur) and administrator of the Society of the Friends of the Musée de la Légion d'honneur.[2] He is a member of the Jockey Club, of La Caccia in Rome and of the Cercle du Bois de Boulogne as a founding member.[3] He is also chancellor of the « Académie des Psychologues du Goût » and president of the music association of Pellevoisin (France). He is president of the foundation for Evangelization through the Media (FEM) created in 2008 that supports Aleteia.
Order of Malta[edit]
In 1992, La Rochefoucauld-Montbel was received into the Order of Malta as a Knight of Magistral Grace. Then, several years later, he became a Knight of Honour and Devotion. In 2008 he took the promise as a Knight in Obedience. He currently ranks as a Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion in Obedience.[2]
La Rochefoucauld-Montbel has served in a number of positions in the French Association of the Order of Malta: Administrator since 1994, Vice-President (1996-2000), President (2000-2014), Vice-President (2014-2023).[3]
He is Vice-President of the French Foundation of the Order of Malta since 2008 and the official representative of the Order of Malta for the Hospital of the Holy Family in Bethlehem from 2009 to 2014.[2] In 2010 he became a member of the International Hospital Council of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Rome.[2]
In 2012, in the context of the close links between the french navy and the Order of Malta, La Rochefoucauld-Montbel decorated the two battle navy ships Le Chevalier Paul and the Forbin.
At the Chapter General of the Order of Malta held 30–31 May 2014 in Rome, La Rochefoucauld-Montbel was elected Grand Hospitaller.[4] He was re-elected at the Chapter General held 1–2 May 2019.[5] In this capacity he was responsible for the humanitarian affairs and international cooperation of the Order of Malta worldwide. He was director of the Global Fund for Forgotten People.
Honours and decorations[edit]
France: Officer of the Legion of Honour (31 December 2014)[6] - Knight (12 November 2004)[6]
France: Knight of the National Order of Merit
France: Knight of Arts and Letters
Holy See: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great[7]
SMOM: Bailli Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Order of Malta
SMOM: Grand Cross of the Order pro Merito Melitensi[3]
Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (9 September 2020)[8]
Spain: Collar and Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (29 December 2015)[9]
Cameroon: Grand Cross of the Order of Valour
Poland: Commander of the Order of Merit of Poland[10]
Armenia: Grand Cross of the Order of Honour
San Marino: Grand Cross of the Santa Agata
Morocco: Grand Officer of the Order of Ouissam alaouite
Romania: Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Romania
Holy See: Grand cross of Merit of the Order of the Holy sepulchre
House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies: Bailli Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George[11]
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b Cuny, Hubert (1988). Le Gotha français: Etat présent des familles ducales et princières (depus 1940). Paris: L'Intermédiaire des Chercheurs etCurieux. p. 136. ISBN 226200546X.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Grand Hospitaller". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ a b c Who's Who in France, accessed 13 April 2022.
- ^ "The Chapter General of the Sovereign Order of Malta is held in Rome". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ "The Chapter General of the Sovereign Order of Malta is held in Rome". orderofmalta.int. Sovereign Military Order of Malta. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Décret du 31 décembre 2014 portant promotion et nomination" (PDF). Journal officiel de la République française. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ "Newsletter - Friends of the museum of Légion d'honneur" (PDF). Newsletter - Friends of the Museum of Légion of Honor. 15 February 2024. p. 11.
- ^ "Conferimento di onorificenze dell'Ordine "Al merito della Repubblica italiana"". gazzettaufficiale.it. Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- ^ "Real Decreto 1178/2015, de 29 de diciembre". boe.es. Boletín Oficial del Estado. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ "Internetowa baza tekstów prawnych OpenLEX".
- ^ Stair Sainty, Guy (2018). The Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Angeli, Farnese and Bourbon Families Which Governed It. Madrid: Boletin Oficial del Estado. p. 394. ISBN 9788434025066.