Duc de Noailles
(1802-1885)

Paul, 6th duc de Noailles, was the grand-nephew of the heirless Jean-Paul-François, 5th duc de Noailles, whom he succeeded on the latter’s death in 1824. However, he did not take his seat among the peers of France until he reached his majority in 1827. A Knight of the Golden Fleece, he was also noted as an historian and a parliamentary orator.

On 11 January 1849, with 25 out of 31 votes, the duc de Noailles was elected to occupy the seat previously held by his friend and confidant Chateaubriand in the Académie Française. As the seat was also contested by Balzac, who only obtained four of the votes, his election elicited an outburst of protest in the literary press.

On 5 February 1823 he married Alicia Victurienne de Rochechouart, a daughter of the 8th duc de Mortemart, who gave him two sons and a daughter.

Paul de Noailles died in Paris on 29 May 1885.