Albert Gautier Vignal

This article is about the fencer. For the politician, see Albert Gauthier de Clagny.

Albert-Joseph Gautier Vignal (26 May 1854 – 18 October 1939) was a French-Monegasque nobleman and tycoon who sponsored various sports in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly fencing.

Comte Albert Gautier Vignal
Born	Albert-Joseph Gautier (1854-05-26)26 May 1854 Nice, France
Died	18 October 1939(1939-10-18) (aged 85) Lausanne, Switzerland
Nationality	French, Monegasque
Other names	Albert Gauthier
Spouse(s)	Marie Boutau ​ ​ (m. 1883; died 1910)​ Edith Emma Schiff ​ ​ (m. 1911; died 1939)​

Early life

Gautier was from a French noble family that settled in Monaco in the early 1820s, eventually becoming leading figures in the business. Born on 26 May 1854 in Nice, he was a son of Hélène Sicard (b. 1831) and Paul Gautier (1819–1872), who served as president of the Chamber of Commerce in Nice.^[1]

Career

A close friend of the Baron de Coubertin, Gautier founded the Monegasque Olympic Committee in 1907 and, from 1908 until his death, represented Monaco on the International Olympic Committee.^[2] He was a leading figure in developing fencing as a competitive sport, and Monaco as a sporting destination.^[1] In 1933 he became an honorary member of the International Fencing Federation (FIE).^[3]

Outside of sport, he was president of various banks as well as the Nice Electricity Company, and Consul-General for Romania in Nice.^[4]

Honors and awards

In 1895 Gautier was ennobled and created Count Gautier Vignal by Pope Leo XIII in recognition of his dedication to the Holy See.^[5] He was also made an Officer of the Legion of Honour in 1935, a Commander of the Order of the Crown of Romania, a Commander of the Swedish Order of Vasa, an Officer of the Order of the Star of Romania and a member of the Order of Polonia Restituta.^[1]

Personal life

On 14 May 1883 in Nice, Gautier married Marie Boutau (1857–1910), a daughter of Jean Boutau and Agathe Désirée Perier. Together, they were the parents of:^[5]

• Madeleine Gautier Vignal (1884–1971), who married Paul Marie Adolphe de Foras, youngest son of Count Amédée de Foras, the Grand Marshal of the Court of Bulgaria, in 1910.^[6] After his death in World War I, she married Viscount Christian de l'Hermite.^[5]
• Thérèse Gautier Vignal (1886–1941), who married Gérard Sublet d'Heudicourt de Lenoncourt, a son of Odelric Sublet, Marquis d'Heudicourt de Lenoncourt, and Marguerite de Suremain, in 1908.^[7]
• Eugène Louis "Paul" Albert Gautier Vignal (1887–1914), who died fighting for France during World War I.^[8]
• Louis Gautier Vignal (1888–1982), a writer who was friends with Marcel Proust.^[9]
• Elisabeth Gautier Vignal (1895–1994), who married Alberto Chiesa in 1920.^[10]

After the death of his first wife in 1910, he married London born Edith Emma Schiff (1871–1953) on 29 April 1911 in Nice. A sister of Sidney Schiff and Marie Schiff (Baroness de Marwicz), they were children of stockbroker Alfred George Schiff.^[9]

The Count Gautier Vignal died on 18 October 1939 at Lausanne, Switzerland.^[1]

Descendants

Through his daughter Thérèse, he was a grandfather of Odile Marguerite Marie Marthe Madelene Sublet d'Heudicourt de Lenoncourt (1914–1994), who married Henri de Gramont, 13th Duke of Gramont in 1949.^[11]