Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba

Who was Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba?

Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba was a wealthy New Orleans-born aristocrat, businesswoman and real estate developer, and one of the most dynamic personalities of that city's history.

Upon the death of her Spanish father, Andres Almonester y Rojas in 1798, Micaela, as his only surviving child, inherited a considerable fortune; although the estate was controlled by her mother, Louise Denis de la Ronde. Following her marriage in 1811 to her French cousin, Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba, she moved to France. The marriage was not successful and she became a virtual prisoner at the de Pontalba chateau near Senlis. Having failed to gain possession of her entire inheritance, her father-in-law, Baron de Pontalba shot her four times at point-blank range with a pair of duelling pistols and then committed suicide. She survived the attack, although her left breast and two of her fingers were mutilated by gunfire. Her husband, Cèlestin succeeded his father as baron, and Micaela was henceforth styled Baroness de Pontalba. She eventually obtained a legal separation from him.

Micaela was responsible for the design and construction of the famous Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter. In 1855 she built the Hôtel de Pontalba in Paris, where she lived until her death in 1874. She is the subject of an opera, Pontalba: a Louisiana Legacy, which was composed by Thea Musgrave. A play entitled The Baroness, Undressed, and many novels have been written about her dramatic life.