François de Nicolay

Who was François de Nicolay?

Count François de Nicolay was a member of the House of Nicolay in France who was a farm manager, arboriculturist, and a politician who was elected to the Senate of France.

Part of the French nobility, he was born in the town of Le Lude in the Sarthe department of France, a descendant of the Talhouët family . His grandfather was the mayor of Le Lude for more than fifty years. His great-uncle, Auguste de Talhouët-Roy, owner of the Château du Lude, served as Minister of Public Works in the Second French Empire, and was a Senator for Sarthe between 1876 and 1882.

After graduating from the ESSEC Business school in Paris, François de Nicolay remained in the city where he went to work as an executive with the women's magazine, Femmes d'aujourd'hui. At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the French military and served until the Armistice was signed and the German Occupation began. Back home in Le Lude, he oversaw forestry and farming operations which included the breeding of Thoroughbred horses.