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| Albert I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Albert I,c. 1910 | |||||
| Prince of Monaco | |||||
| Reign | 10 September 1889 – 26 June 1922 | ||||
| Predecessor | Charles III | ||||
| Successor | Louis II | ||||
| Ministers of state | See list | ||||
| Born | (1848-11-13)13 November 1848 Paris,France | ||||
| Died | 26 June 1922(1922-06-26) (aged 73) Paris,France | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Louis II, Prince of Monaco | ||||
| |||||
| House | Grimaldi | ||||
| Father | Charles III, Prince of Monaco | ||||
| Mother | Antoinette de Mérode | ||||
Albert I (Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi; 13 November 1848 – 26 June 1922) wasPrince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death in 1922. He devoted much of his life tooceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, Albert I's reign oversaw major reforms on political, social, and economic levels, with theMonégasque Revolution leading to the end of absolute monarchy and his promulgation ofa constitution in 1911.
Born on 13 November 1848 inParis, France, the son ofPrince Charles III (1818–1889), andCountess Antoinette Ghislaine de Merode (1828–1864), aBelgian noblewoman, maternal aunt ofDonnaMaria Vittoria dal Pozzo, Princess della Cisterna,Duchess consort of Aosta andQueen consort of Spain.
As a young man, Prince Albert served in theSpanish Navy as a navigator. During theFranco-Prussian War, he joined theFrench Navy where he was awarded theLegion of Honor.[1] In addition to his interest inoceanographic studies, Albert had a keen interest in the origins of man and in Paris, he founded the "Institute for Human Paleontology" that was responsible for a number ofarcheological digs. The "Grimaldi Man" found in the Baousse-Rousse cave was named in his honour. Albert's intellectual achievements gained him worldwide recognition and in 1909, theBritish Academy of Science made him a member.
On 21 September 1869 at theChâteau de Marchais (which is still in the possession of the Grimaldi family today) inChampagne, Prince Albert was married toLady Mary Victoria Hamilton (1850–1922), ofLanarkshire,Scotland, a daughter of the11th Duke of Hamilton and his wife,Princess Marie Amelie of Baden. The couple met for the first time in August 1869 at a ball hosted by the Emperor and Empress of France; their marriage had been arranged by Albert's grandmotherCaroline.
Caroline had tried to make a match between Albert andPrincess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the first cousin ofQueen Victoria, and sought the help ofNapoléon III (Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) and his wife,Empress Eugénie. The Emperor convinced Caroline that Queen Victoria would never allow a relative of hers to marry into a family who made a living out of gambling. He then suggested Mary, his third cousin once removed and sister of his good friend, the12th Duke of Hamilton, as a suitable alternative. Mary was a granddaughter ofCharles, Grand Duke of Baden and related by blood to the French Imperial family through her maternal grandmotherStéphanie de Beauharnais,Emperor Napoléon I's adopted daughter and second cousin of Napoléon III's mother,Hortense de Beauharnais.[2] TheHamiltons were well aware of the extent of Monaco's estate, which was no bigger than theirs, but were sufficiently impressed by its status as an independent principality. The couple married atChâteau de Marchais on 21 September 1869.
Within a year of their marriage, the couple's only child (Louis) was born, but Mary disliked Monaco and found the Mediterranean too hot. While Albert was away fighting in the Franco-Prussian war, she left Monaco permanently. The couple divorced and their marriage was annulled by the Church on 3 January 1880, although a special provision was made by theVatican to allow Louis to remain legitimate in the eyes of the Church. Civilly, the marriage was dissolved on 28 July 1880, by the Order of Prince Charles III. That same year, the former Princess of Monaco remarried in Florence, Italy, to a Hungarian nobleman, PrinceTassilo Festetics von Tolna.
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On 10 September 1889, Albert ascended the throne of Monaco on the death of his father. That same year inParis, on 30 October, he married the DowagerDuchess de Richelieu,néeMarie Alice Heine (1858–1925). TheAmerican daughter of aNew Orleansbuilding contractor ofGerman-Jewish descent, Alice Heine had married theDuc de Richelieu but had been widowed by age 21 and left with a young son, Armand. Her marriage to Prince Albert proved an equal blessing for him and the tinyprincipality of Monaco, since Alice brought a strong business acumen, well in advance of her youth. Having helped put her husband's principality on a sound financial footing, she would devote her energies to making Monaco one of Europe's great cultural centers, with an opera, theater, and a ballet under the direction of the famed Russian impresarioSerge Diaghilev.
Despite the initial success of the marriage of Prince Albert and Princess Alice, in 1902, they separated legally, without issue, though did not divorce. According toAnne Edwards' bookThe Grimaldis of Monaco, this was due to the Princess's friendship with the composerIsidore de Lara. By the same token, thecourtesan Caroline Otero,La Belle Otero, who had served him as a high class prostitute between 1893 and 1897, recalled Albert fondly in her memoirs and claimed that he was not a virile man and suffered fromerection difficulty. Princess Alice had La Belle Otero banned from the principality in 1897 for being seen with her husband.
In March 1910, there weremass protests against his rule. The Monegasques demanded a constitution and a parliament to rein in the absolute monarch or else they would overthrow him and establish a republic. They were dissatisfied about French domination of the principality's politics and economy. There was severe unemployment, as the principality lacked factories and farmland, and the casinos did not allow citizens to work there. On 5 January 1911, Prince Albert I granted Monaco aconstitution, but the document had little real meaning in terms of reducing autocratic rule and was soon suspended by the Prince when World War I broke out. Also in 1911, Prince Albert created theMonte Carlo Rally, an automobile race designed to draw tourists to Monaco and theCasino.
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Despite his military service, or perhaps because of it, the Prince became a pacifist, establishing the International Institute of Peace in Monaco as a place to develop a peaceful settlement for conflict through arbitration. In the tension-filled times leading up toWorld War I, Prince Albert made numerous attempts to dissuade Germany'sKaiser Wilhelm II from war.
When war came, Prince Albert could not avoid becoming involved. In one incident, he even wrote personally to the Kaiser in an effort to ameliorate the consequences of Gen.Karl von Bülow's wrath. Without the Prince's intervention, the French villages ofSissonne andMarchais would have been destroyed.[3] In the "Great War to End All Wars", Monaco declared its neutrality, but in fact, provided the Allied forces with hospitals, convalescent centers, and soldiers, including Prince Albert's only son, Louis.
Albert died on 26 June 1922 in Paris, France, and was succeeded by his son,Louis II.
Prince Albert I of Monaco devoted much of his life to the study of the sea and oceans,[4] andMonaco diplomats around the world forwarded scientific papers to him.[5] At 22 years old, he embarked on a career in the then relatively new science ofoceanography. Understanding the importance of the relationship between living creatures and their environment, he devised a number of techniques and instruments for measurement and exploration. Albert I was also the “instigator and promulgator” of the oceanographic science he contributed to create. He founded theInstitut océanographique, Foundation Albert I, Prince of Monaco in 1906, a private foundation recognized of public utility. It has two buildings: The Oceanographic Institute of Paris, now renamed Ocean House, and what became the world-renownedOceanographic Museum of Monaco.[6] This includes anaquarium, amuseum, and alibrary, with research facilities in Paris.
He owned four, increasingly impressive research yachts,Hirondelle,Princesse Alice,Princesse Alice II andHirondelle II.[7] Accompanied by some of the world's leading marine scientists, he travelled the length and breadth of the Mediterranean,[8] making numerous oceanographic studies, maps and charts. In 1896, on an oceanographic survey of theAzores, he discovered thePrincess Alice Bank.
From an early age, Prince Albert I of Monaco evidenced a strong fascination for thepolar regions. In the years 1898-1907 he made four scientific cruises toSvalbard on his yachtPrincesse Alice. His efforts are honored by the later naming ofAlbert I Land onSpitsbergen.
The first cruise in the summer of 1898 was anoceanographical andzoological reconnaissance, aimed mainly at adding to the collections of theOceanographic Museum of Monaco, for which the construction had just started.
On the second expedition, in 1899, the focus was on thehydrography andtopography ofRaudfjorden, on the north-western tip ofSpitsbergen, of which a map was published. His efforts are acknowledged by the later naming ofAlbert I Land, which comprises the part of Spitsbergen west of Raudfjorden.
The third trip, in 1906,meteorology was added to the range of observations and surveys were pursued. The Prince also provided support for two other expeditions, that of the Scotsman,William Bruce, toPrins Karls Forland, and that of the Norwegian,Gunnar Isachsen, to northwestern Spitsbergen. His funding of the latter lead to regularNorwegian scientific expeditions on Svalbard, and in 1928 the foundation of theNorwegian Polar Institute.
The Prince's fourth expedition in 1907, was aimed at completing the results from the previous summer. Prince Albert also lent his support, either financially, or through gifts or loans of oceanographic instruments, to numerous Arctic andAntarctic explorers. The same year, he provided funds and support for the foundation of theFriends of the French National Museum of Natural History Society.[9] In 1909 he joined theSociété de Géographie and theBritish Academy. In 1910 the Prince was the main founder of the Institute of Human Paleontology (Institut de paléontologie humaine) in Paris,[10] close to theJardin des plantes which is the seat of theFrench National Museum of Natural History. Finally, he showed a keen interest in environmental protection, especially in Svalbard. This is demonstrated by his responses to a questionnaire thatHugo Conwentz, aGermanbotanist sent him in 1912.
In 1918, the USNational Academy of Sciences awarded Prince Albert itsAlexander Agassiz Medal for his achievements. The Explorers Club elected Albert I to its highest category of membership — Honorary Member — in 1921. He was also awarded theCullum Geographical Medal of theAmerican Geographical Society. Prince Rainier of Monaco and theInternational Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans established thePrince Albert I Medal in thephysical andchemical sciences of the oceans in his honor.
Albert I amassed a collection ofpostage stamps. The collection was later continued by Louis II and finally became part of the postal museumRainier III that created in 1950.
Albert I was featured on a €2 commemorative coin issued by the Principality of Monaco in 2022.[11]
Monaco: Grand Master of theOrder of St. Charles[citation needed]
Austria-Hungary: Decoration of Honour for Arts and Sciences,1912[13]
Baden: Grand Cross of theMilitary Karl-Friedrich Merit Order
Kingdom of Bavaria:Knight of St. Hubert,1900[14]
Empire of Brazil: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Rose,21 August 1888[15]
France:
Kingdom of Italy:Knight of the Annunciation, with Collar,25 April 1910[17]
Persia:Order of the Lion and the Sun, 1st Class,14 January 1915[18]
Kingdom of Prussia:Knight of the Black Eagle, with Collar[3]
Sweden-Norway:
United States:
Württemberg:Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown,1880[23]
Spain:| Ancestors of Albert I, Prince of Monaco | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Albert I, Prince of Monaco Cadet branch of theHouse of Matignon Born: 13 November 1848 Died: 26 June 1922 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prince of Monaco 1889–1922 | Succeeded by |
| Monegasque royalty | ||
| Preceded by | Hereditary Prince of Monaco 1856–1889 | Succeeded by |
| Marquis of Baux 1856–1889 | ||
| Titles of nobility | ||
| Preceded by | Duke of Valentinois 1889–1919 1889–1922 | Succeeded by |
