FAMOUS MONEGASQUES ascended the throne of Monaco in 1889 on the death of his father ,, that same year in Paris , on 30 October , he married the Dowager Duchess de Richelieu , née Marie Alice Heine . The American daughter of a New Orleans building contractor of German-Jewish descent , Alice Heine had married the Duc 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 tiny principality of Monaco , since Alice brought a strong business acumen , well in advance of her youth . She would devote much of her energy to making Monaco one of Europe ’ s great cultural centres with an opera , theatre and a ballet under the direction of the famed Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev .
The Prince of Monaco was a close friend of two famous composers of his era — Jules Massenet and Camille Saint-Saëns . His friendship with Saint-Saëns began in 1891 at the meetings of the Institute of France ; they used to call each other “ my dear colleague .” Prince Albert demonstrated his enthusiasm and support for the arts writing this phrase to his friend Saint-Saëns : “ Science and art are the two forces which have determined the evolution of mankind ”.
Since 1904 , the most famous operas by Saint-Saens : ‘ Samson and Delilah ’, ‘ The Barbarians ’, ‘ Henry VIII ’, ‘ Helene ’, and ‘ Deianira ’, were successively staged at the Monte-Carlo Opera . At the request of the Prince , Camille Saint-Saëns wrote a special musical piece for the inauguration of the Oceanographic Museum in 1910 .
ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
So what can we conclude about this extraordinary Prince ? He would be as relevant today as he was well over a century ago . When you look at the challenges facing the world today : the tension spots and war zones in the world , the health threats dominated currently by Covid and above all the future of the oceans and the planet — because all life depends on our oceans , Prince Albert I gave us insight and the foundation to tackle these huge challenges , including sustainability . He is as relevant , and possibly more so than he was in his own era . Who is his equal as a man of peace today this Prince who created the Institute for Peace prior to the League of Nations and the United Nations .
Never have we had more need of an ethical peacemaker . Never have we had more need of great scientists like Prince Albert I .
For the Princes that followed Prince Albert I in the 20th and 21st centuries , leveraging a famous phrase — if they have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of a Giant — Prince Albert I .
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A boulevard and a promenade in the centre of Monaco are named after Prince Albert I .
Hello Monaco Spring 2022 / 47 www . hellomonaco . com