Marie-Louise Arconati-Visconti

From the Milan aristocracy, he was the son of Italian politician Giuseppe Arconati Visconti (1797–1873), who had to leave his country in 1821 as a collaborator of the supposed nationalist Federico Confalonieri.

As a result, she inherited a huge fortune, which included Italian art treasures and a number of luxurious properties in Belgium, France and Italy.

Her guests on Thursdays included progressive politicians such as Jean Jaurès, Aristide Briand, Raymond Poincaré and Léon Gambetta, who brought her attention to the Dreyfus case.

During her lifetime, she made numerous donations of artefacts to the museums of Paris in addition to providing financial support for libraries and educational institutions.

[8] She left her remaining fortune to the University of Paris, to which she had already made a large donation a few years earlier to create its Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie.