Chevalier de Grimaldi

Who was Chevalier de Grimaldi?

Antoine Grimaldi, le Chevalier [de] Grimaldi, was the de facto ruler of Monaco between 1732 and 1784. An illegitimate son of Antonio I of Monaco and the dancer Élisabeth Dufort, he was recognized by his father in 1715.

The Chevalier de Grimaldi became governor-general of Monaco on 20 May 1732, when his brother-in-law Jacques I, Prince of Monaco and his young nephew Honoré III, Prince of Monaco moved to Hôtel Matignon in Paris and remained there, even after the proclamation in 1734 of Honoré as Prince of Monaco.

This situation remained the same for half a century until Antoine's death in 1784, when Honoré III was already 64 years old.

Antoine Grimaldi was an able regent. For example, he succeeded in keeping Monaco out of the War of the Austrian Succession.

He never married and died on 28 November 1784. His remains were moved in 1966 to the Apse of the Monaco Cathedral.