| Images |
 The tomb of Charles Clairmont and his family at the Evangelischer Friedhof Matzleinsdorf, Vienna. Picture by Androom (24 Aug 2005) |
Clairmont, Charles Gaulis |
| PROFESSOR (GREAT-BRITAIN) |
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BORN 4 Jun 1795, Bristol - DIED 2 Feb 1850, Wien GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Evangelischer Friedhof Matzleinsdorf, 10. Triesterstraße 1 |
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Brother or half brother of Claire Clairmont, who travelled through
Europe with Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley. Charles moved
to Austria where he married Antonie Ghislain d'Henbyze (She
was called "Tonie"). They had seven children. Hoping to become
professor of German at the new founded University in London
he had returned to England for a while with his wife in 1828,
but he didn't get the job. On 13 Jan 1829 Charles Clairmont,
Claire Clairmont, Mary Shelley and William Godwin Jr. were together
for the last time. Clairmont was a devoted father and worked long days to keep his wife and children. Charles was still pressed for money when he visited Claire in Paris in 1845. They hadn't met for more than sixteen years. He had wanted to pay a farewell visit to England but couldn't afford it and spent more time with her instead. He eventually became a professor and the favourite teacher of Maximilian of Austria, the unfortunate future emperor of Mexico. In Februari 1849 he suddenly collapsed at home and he died on the way to the hospital. Maximilian was in tears when he paid his last respects. Charles was buried at the Währinger Friedhof in Vienna. When this cemetery was closed his descendants moved his coffin to the family tomb of his wife at the Evangelischer Friedhof Matzleinsdorf. Tonie lived until 1868. Family • Daughter: Clairmont, Hermine Related persons • is brother/sister of Clairmont, Claire • was teacher to Maximilian of Austria, emperor of Mexico Sources • Kingston Stocking, Marion, The Journals of Claire Clairmont, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1968 • St Clair, William, The Godwins and the Shelleys, Faber and Faber, London, 1990 • Gittings, Robert and Jo Manton, Claire Clairmont and the Shelleys 1798-1879, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992 |
| Images |
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The tomb of Charles Clairmont and his family at the Evangelischer Friedhof Matzleinsdorf, Vienna. Picture by Androom (24 Aug 2005) |
