Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba in the Louisiana State Museum | |
| Born | Micaela Leonarda Antonia de Almonester Roxas y de la Ronde November 6, 1795 |
| Died | 20 April 1874 (aged 78) |
| Nationality | Spanish (by birth) French (by marriage) American (upon Louisiana's admission to Union) |
| Occupation(s) | Businesswoman Real estate developer Lay architect |
| Known for | The design and construction of the Pontalba Buildings in the French Quarter of New Orleans |
| Spouse(s) |
Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba, Baron de Pontalba
(m. 1811–1874) |
| Children | Joseph Delfau de Pontalba Célestin Delfau de Pontalba Alfred Delfau de Pontalba Gaston Delfau de Pontalba Mathilde Delfau de Pontalba |
| Parent(s) | Andrés Almonester y Rojas Louise Denys de La Ronde |
Micaela Leonarda Antonia de Almonester Rojas y de la Ronde, Baroness de Pontalba (November 6, 1795[1] – April 20, 1874) was a wealthy New Orleans-born Creole aristocrat, businesswoman, and real estate designer and developer, who endures as one of the most recalled and dynamic personalities in the city's history, though she lived most of her life in Paris.[2]
On April 26, 1798, when Micaela was just 2+1⁄2 years old, her Spanish father, Don Andrés Almonester y Rojas, died, leaving her his sole surviving heir. Micaela inherited a considerable fortune. Her estate was capably administered by her mother, Louise Denys de la Ronde, referenced as "a superbly competent businesswoman who had greatly increased the inheritance since Almonester's death."[3] Following Micaela's marriage, in 1811, to her French cousin, Joseph-Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba, she moved to France. The marriage was not successful and she became a virtual prisoner at the de Pontalba chateau near Senlis.
Having failed, despite his concerted efforts over more than two decades, to gain possession of Micaela's entire inheritance, her father-in-law, Baron de Pontalba, eventually shot her four times at point-blank range with a pair of dueling pistols, and then committed suicide. She survived the attack, although her left breast and two of her fingers were mutilated by gunfire. Her husband, Cèlestin, succeeded his father as baron, and Micaela was thereafter styled Baroness de Pontalba. She eventually obtained a legal separation from her husband.
Micaela was responsible for the design and construction of the famous Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter. In 1855, she had built the Hôtel de Pontalba in Paris, where she lived until her death in 1874. Her life eventually became the plot for an opera: Pontalba: a Louisiana Legacy, composed by Thea Musgrave. A play by Diana E.H. Shortes entitled The Baroness Undressed, and several novels, are also based on her dramatic life.
- ^ "Jackson Square". Louisiana Historical Quarterly. Henry Renshaw.
- ^ Morales, Katy Frances (2005). La Madame et La Mademoiselle: Creole Women in Louisiana, 1718-1865, a thesis. Louisiana State University.
- ^ New York Times: "A Spectacular Mess of a Marriage", by ANGELINE GOREAU; August 31, 1997.