Alexandre Berthier, 4th Prince of Wagram

Born as the son of Alexandre Berthier, 3rd Prince of Wagram (1836–1911) and Baroness Bertha Clara von Rothschild (1862–1903),^[1] a member of the German branch of the prominent Rothschild family, Alexandre Berthier grew up at the family's ancestral home, the Château de Grosbois, a large estate in Boissy-Saint-Léger, southeast of Paris. He had two sisters, Elisabeth (1885–1960) and Marguerite (1887–1966), the latter of whom married Prince Jean Victor de Broglie.^[1]

Alexandre Berthier was an active collector of modern art.^[2] He owned works by prominent artists such as Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. In his will, he bequeathed 17 of Renoir’s paintings to the French nation.^[1]

Before leaving for the French Army and serving in World War I on 1 August 1914, Berthier bequeathed the Château de Grosbois to his sister. He served as an army captain and led a company of chasseurs during the Third Battle of the Aisne. He sustained fatal wounds from shell fire at Fort de Condé-sur-Aisne and died on 30 May 1918. Never married, he had no legitimate children. However he did have a daughter, Monique, born in 1914 out of wedlock, whose mother was Marie-Louise Salivas. There were prolonged legal proceedings in 1922 and a settlement was agreed upon. Monique was entitled to the name Berthier de Wagram. The nobility title became extinct upon his death.^[1][3] Berthier was buried at the Château de Grosbois, alongside his father and grandfather.^[4]

Alexandre Berthier served as the model for a minor character in Marcel Proust's multi-part novel In Search of Lost Time.^[5] His mother is mentioned more frequently as Princess of Iéna.^[6]