Count Hermann Alexander de Pourtalès (31 March 1847 – 28 November 1904) was a Swiss sailor who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics.[1][2]

Hermann de Pourtalès
Personal information
Full nameHermann Alexandre de Pourtalès
Born(1847-03-31)31 March 1847
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Died28 November 1904(1904-11-28) (aged 57)
Geneva, Switzerland
Sailing career
Class(es)1 to 2 ton
Open class
ClubUnion des Yachtsmen
Medal record
Sailing
Representing  Switzerland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1900 Paris 1 to 2 ton 1st race
Silver medal – second place 1900 Paris 1 to 2 ton 2nd race
Lerina 1900.jpg

Early life

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Pourtalès was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland on 31 March 1847. He was a son of Count Alexandre Joseph de Pourtalès (1810–1833) and the former Auguste Saladin (1815–1885).[3] His sister, Isabelle Marguerite de Pourtales, was the wife of archaeologist Henri Édouard Naville, a prominent Egyptologist who found a statue of Ramesses II at Bubastis.[4]

His paternal grandparents were Louis de Pourtalès (a brother of James-Alexandre de Pourtalès and Frédéric de Pourtalès, grandfather of Friedrich von Pourtalès) and Sophie de Guy d'Audanger.[5] His nephew was Bernard de Pourtalès.[6] The Pourtalès family were French Huguenots who settled in Neuchâtel following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.[4] His maternal grandfather was Antoine Charles Guillaume Saladin.[7]

Career

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Pourtalès was a captain of the Cuirassiers of the Guard, in the service of the King of Prussia Wilhelm I who later became the German Emperor.[8]

Olympic career

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He was a member of the Swiss boat Lérina, which won the gold medal in the first race of 1 — 2 ton and silver medal in the second race of 1 — 2 ton class. He also participated in the open class, but did not finish. His wife Hélène and nephew Bernard were crew members.[9]

Personal life

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Pourtalès was married to Marguerite "Daisy" Marcet (1857–1888), a daughter of William Marcet, president of the Royal Meteorological Society. In 1887, the family returned to Switzerland, where they lived first at Malagny, near Versoix, in the Canton of Geneva. Together, they were the parents of:[10]

After the death of his first wife in 1888, Pourtalès remarried to American heiress Helen Barbey in 1891.[15][16] She was a daughter of Henry Isaac Barbey and Mary Lorillard Barbey and a granddaughter of Pierre Lorillard III[17][18] Her sister Eva was married to André Poupart, Baron de Neuflize (son of Baron Jean de Neuflize the older brother of the Countess of Bessborough).[19][20] After their marriage, they lived at Mies in the Canton de Vaud.

Count de Pourtalès died on 28 November 1904 in Geneva.

References

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  1. ^ "Hermann de Pourtalès Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympic Sports. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  2. ^ "Hermann de Pourtalès". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  3. ^ Joseph, John E. (2012). Saussure. OUP Oxford. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-19-969565-2. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b Lehr, Ernest (1870). L'Alsace Noble (in French). p. 52. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  5. ^ Neues Allgemeines Deutsches Adels-Lexicon: Ossa - Ryssel. Voigt. 1867. p. 231. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  6. ^ Joseph, John Earl (2002). From Whitney to Chomsky: Essays in the History of American Linguistics. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 2. ISBN 978-90-272-4593-9. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  7. ^ Saint-Allais, Nicolas Viton de (1835). Annuaire historique, généalogique et héraldique de l'ancienne noblesse de France (in French). L'auteur. p. 372. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  8. ^ a b c van Berchem, Mathieu (11 November 2014). "Diary of an unusual man's adventurous war". swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  9. ^ Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900, Concours D'Exercices Physiques et de Sports (PDF) (in French). Imprimerie Nationale. 1901. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  10. ^ Piguet, Laure (2016). From unmarried girl to married woman. The correspondence of Augusta de Pourtalès (1903-1918). Clio. Women, Gender, History 2016/2 (No 44). doi:10.4000/clio.13346. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  11. ^ "YOUNG COUNTESS TO MARRY; Daughter of Ambassador von Bernstorff Engaged to Count Pourtales". The New York Times. 11 December 1910. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  12. ^ a b "PRESIDENT ATTENDS EMBASSY WEDDING; Countess von Bernstorff, Daughter of the German Ambassador, Married to Count Pourtales". The New York Times. 28 March 1911. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  13. ^ Watzdorf-Bachoff, Erika von (1997). Im Wandel und in der Verwandlung der Zeit: ein Leben von 1878 bis 1963 (in German). Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 430. ISBN 9783515070621. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  14. ^ Genève, Université de; Stelling-Michaud, Sven; Stelling-Michaud, Suzanne (1959). Le livre du recteur: de l'Académie de Genève (1559-1878) (in French). Librairie Droz. p. 371. ISBN 978-2-600-03194-3. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  15. ^ "GUY DE POURTALÈS – Sa vie". Fondation Guy de Pourtalès (in French). Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Hélène de Pourtalès Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympic Sports. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  17. ^ Shrager, Mark (April 1, 2016). The Great Sweepstakes of 1877: A True Story of Southern Grit, Gilded Age Tycoons, and a Race That Galvanized the Nation. Guilford, Connecticut: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781493018895. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  18. ^ "MISS BARBEY ENGAGED.; Daughter of the Late Henry Barbey of New York to Wed Gilbert Elliott". The New York Times. 3 August 1910. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  19. ^ "MISS DE NEUFLIZE ENGAGED IN PARIS; Her Betrothal to Baron Jean de Watteville Berckheim Is Annotinced MARCH WEDDING PLANNED Bride-to-Be Is a Granddiughter of-Late Mr and Mrs. Henry Barbey of New York". The New York Times. 21 February 1937. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  20. ^ "MISS DE NEUFLIZE BRIDE IN CATHEDRAL; She Is Married in Paris to Baron Jean de Watteville-Berckheim of Alsace". The New York Times. 13 March 1937. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
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