The Family and Ancestry of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

[gogm]

Fireweaver posted this on 9/6/03:

"It would nevertheless be wrong to assume that the multicultural life of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa has all been plain sailing. Maria Teresa Mestre y Batista was born in Havana before the Cuban revolution and lived there until she was three years old. In October 1959, however, her parents José Antonio Mestre and Maria Teresa Batista-Falla de Mestre decided to leave Cuba and move to New York. However, the move from revolutionary Cuba to the USA did not remain the family's sole endeavour, and after six years in New York they decided to move again and settle in Switzerland. This meant that even the young Maria Teresa had to make the effort familiar to many immigrants of normalising her life in a new country. At the same time she adopted the right attitude towards settling into a new culture: "My parents taught me that one should always be optimistic about the future and not languish in nostalgia for a past that no longer exists.”

I believe this note by Fireweaver is the oldest thread in the Luxembourg page.

 

[bct88]

Are Maria Teresa's parents still alive?

 

[Merca]

Who were Maria Theresa´s parents? Did they come from noble families?

 

[drimal]

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa was born in Havana, Cuba, on 22 March 1956, to José Antonio Mestre and Maria Teresa Batista-Falla de Mestre.
In October 1959, at the time of the revolution, Maria Teresa Mestre left Cuba with her parents. The family settled in New York where, as a young girl, she was a pupil at Marymount School.

That's some cutting of a report about Maria Teresa I found on the web and which I post a few posts ago in this thread. Her parents were rich, but not nobles. Her mother Maria Teresa Batista-Falla de Mestre was related with a certain Fulgencio Batista (1901-1973), the president of Cuba (1954-1955) and pro-american. I have found a report from him on the web and the adversary of Fidel Castro seems to be not a nice (quite a nasty) person (basing on all I read about him). He was involved in the Cuban Revolution in the fifties and lead a tough regime.


And here you find two links of this Fulgencio Batista: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista
http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/batist.htm


Note: It is perhabs because of the relationship to this Fulgencio Batista that Maria Teresa and her parents have to leave Cuba.
What's your opinion after reading the reports of him? If this is all true poor Maria Teresa certainly doesn't had a happy childhood! After all she was not responsible for a related person involved in a revolution!

Please don't take me wrong to write this article. You know that I respect and like Maria Teresa and this is not to harm her in anyway. I have only found this reports on the web and want to show it to you.

 

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

Yes that is actually true. Weren't here parents plantation owners or something?

 

[hillary_nugent]

Was her family very wealthy?

 

[msfroyste]

The Family of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

sorry moderators, but to help those unfamiliar to the forum and these threads; to sum it up quickly, basically, it was henri's mother, josephine -charlotte, whom was against the marriage, becasue of the fact that mt was from cuba, with gd jean having a few reservations at first. but henri stood up and fought for mt, and gd jean agreed, however, j-c never fully warmed to her until the end. basically that's what i gather from all that i've heard about it. mt's family fled cuba during the communist revolution there in the late 1950's when batista himself fled; i believe she's related to batista via her mother, and her father had benefited greatly from batista's regime. so it only made since that they leave too. the rest is history, and more info can be found all around the threads. for the most part, i'm of the opinion that mt gets along quite well with most of her in-laws, and this can be seen from the many random snaps of the family interacting with each other at various events. hopes this helps. yes, guillaume has grown up quite well.

 

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

Besides, Batista wasn't the nicest guy to his people. To be related to that is kind of bad.

 

[Lindy]

Besides, Batista wasn't the nicest guy to his people. To be related to that is kind of bad.

She in NOT related to him!

 

[Kelly]

I thought she was related to them except they weren't that close.

 

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

I had always heard that they were related.

 

[msfroyste]

so have i, via her mother. lindy, could you please fill us in on what you know?

 

[madeleine victoria]

wow! loads of info about that. anyway, thanks for that.. for what i can see the grand ducal family is the most loving, most united family other than the spanish royal family. thank god henri and mt survived their relationship! MT is one great woman!

 

[Lindy]

mt's family fled cuba during the communist revolution there in the late 1950's when batista himself fled; i believe she's related to batista via her mother, and her father had benefited greatly from batista's regime. so it only made since that they leave too.

It is true that Maria Teresa's maternal grandfather and President Batista had the same last name. However, they are not related.

MT's grandfather, Agustin Batista y Gonzalez de Mendoza was born in Havana in 1899. He was President of the Trust Bank of Cuba and along with sugar czar, Julo Lobo, was one of the the most notable personalities of the Cuban Beourgeoise. He was a great supporter of the arts and the Cuban Philharmonic Orchesta was almost entirely financed by Agustin Batista. His protrait can be seen behind a family picture of the Mestre family sitting around piano when Maria Teresa is about seven.

Fulgencio Batista was born in 1901 to peasant laborers of mixed descent (black, white, Indian and Chinese) who lived and worked on a sugar plantation. He worked from a young age and went to an American Quarker school at night. He later joined the Cuban army and became president of Cuba in the 30's.

Maria Teresa's family left in the late fifties when they were able to leave along with their large family fortune. They did not leave because they were related to Batista. Many, many people left Cuba at that time.

 

[msfroyste]

It is true that Maria Teresa's maternal grandfather and President Batista had the same last name. However, they are not related.

MT's grandfather, Agustin Batista y Gonzalez de Mendoza was born in Havana in 1899. He was President of the Trust Bank of Cuba and along with sugar czar, Julo Lobo, was one of the the most notable personalities of the Cuban Beourgeoise. He was a great supporter of the arts and the Cuban Philharmonic Orchesta was almost entirely financed by Agustin Batista. His protrait can be seen behind a family picture of the Mestre family sitting around piano when Maria Teresa is about seven.

Fulgencio Batista was born in 1901 to peasant laborers of mixed descent (black, white, Indian and Chinese) who lived and worked on a sugar plantation. He worked from a young age and went to an American Quarker school at night. He later joined the Cuban army and became president of Cuba in the 30's.

Maria Teresa's family left in the late fifties when they were able to leave along with their large family fortune. They did not leave because they were related to Batista. Many, many people left Cuba at that time.

i stand corrected. thanks for the info and insight lindy.

 

[Heiress Victoria]

your welcome.. can anybody post photos of MT's family??.. the siblings that she names in the interview..antonio.. becuase people say that guillume is very much alike to his uncle antonio..

 

[Kelly]

Antonio, where does he live? Is he the one living in florida or geneva?

 

[msfroyste]

Antonio, where does he live? Is he the one living in florida or geneva?

i believe antonio is mt's brother that lives in florida and i think it was mentioned in the article.

 

[Jose]

Grand Duchess Maria Teresias mother and father? grandmother and grandfather? Photo?

 

[suturegeisha]

Grand Duchess Maria Teresias mother and father? grandmother and grandfather? Photo?

Her mother and father are in this photo [her dad is sitting in the chair, and her mother is dressed in pink].
I can honestly say I've never seen a photo of her grandparents, nor a recent photo of her parents, even.

 

[hsh1969]

I think her father died a few years ago in Miami, don't know about her mom, but I think she died too, but recently. MT family in Cuba were very wealthy, bank owners and "big" financials deals, her mom was related to Fulgencio Batista, the President of Cuba in the 50's. Also another big issue with MT coming into "royalty" specially with her mother in law (RIP) was that Fulgencio Batista was mulato (in English, mixed, half black half white) and so is MT in a 3rd or 4th degree, however for JC just the thought of having a "black" was too much, and thats the other reason why when MT gets tanned she gets quickly tanned, way too much but that what happens when your skin is dark, I know because it's happens to me.

 

[MarleyAllison]

Very interesting HSH1969. Thank you for posting. Its too bad JC only saw colour and not character.

 

[Marengo]

Just ut of curiousty HSH, how do you know that Josephine-Charlotte objected because of the mulato background? I never heard that story, only that Joe used to have problems with ALL her children-in-law (esp. poor Helene Vestur) and that in the beginning of the marriage she was quite welcoming to Marie-Theresa and had persuaded her husband to accept the marriage.

 

[hsh1969]

There was another phrase that JC used to call MT and it was "little black girl", but in french. JC could not stand MT for whatever reason but people supected that race was the issue, because there was no way that was low class since MT family was (don't know if still are) extremely wealthy, so much that MT was introduced to Prince Charles of Wales (yeap Mr Ears himself) and they did not click and so it faded, so do you think somebody that was moving in the same circle as Prince Charles could be on the low fund$ side, right?, very well educated even thou she prefers to talk in french and spanish than in english, i guess out of familiarity.

 

[Lindy]

I think her father died a few years ago in Miami, don't know about her mom, but I think she died too, but recently. MT family in Cuba were very wealthy, bank owners and "big" financials deals, her mom was related to Fulgencio Batista, the President of Cuba in the 50's. Also another big issue with MT coming into "royalty" specially with her mother in law (RIP) was that Fulgencio Batista was mulato (in English, mixed, half black half white) and so is MT in a 3rd or 4th degree, however for JC just the thought of having a "black" was too much, and thats the other reason why when MT gets tanned she gets quickly tanned, way too much but that what happens when your skin is dark, I know because it's happens to me.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d18/drimal_/Marie%20Astrid/0000329606-017.jpg

Maria Teresa's mother died in 1988 and her father in 1993, both in Switzerland, not Miami. Her mother is the daughter of banker Augustin Batista, NOT FULGENCIO BATISTA!! Augustin can be see in the portrait behind the family in the attached picture. You can see that he is not dark skinned. (Why are you writing all these things that aren't true? :unhappy: )

 

[hsh1969]

Lindy: Where did I say she was the daughter of Fulgencio Batista? Furthermore, she was related to Fulgencio Batista, right? Not all mixed people are dark like Fulgencio was.
Her parents died, I was told by my CUBAN family they were living in Miami, I don't follow those people, if I'm not mistaken one of her brothers still live in Miami, right? and the others in Europe, close to her I guess.

If you want to get offended so be it, but read right before you do.

 

[Lindy]

Maria Teresa is not related to Fulgencio Batista.

Her parents lived in Geneva, Switzerland from the mid-sixties to the time of their deaths. Her brother, Antonio, does live in Miami. Luis and Catalina live in Europe.

 

[Sephora]

She was born in Havana (Cuba), to José Antonio Mestre and Maria Teresa Batista-Falla de Mestre. In October 1959, at the time of the revolution, Maria Teresa Mestre left Cuba with her parents. The family settled in New York where, as a young girl, she was a pupil at Marymount School. From 1961 she carried on her studies at the Lycée Français. In her childhood, Maria Teresa Mestre took ballet and singing courses. She practices skiing, ice-skating and water sports. She lived in New York City, Santander, Spain and Geneva, where she met the Grand Duke.

In 1980 she graduated from the University of Geneva in political sciences. Miss Mestre met Prince Henri at this university. For four years they both carried on similar studies, working sometimes in the same study groups. Miss Mestre was for instance, the author of a report comparing legislation concerning women and motherhood within the European Union.​

 

[Rayarena]

More on Maria Teresa's Illustrious Ancestry

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa's mother also named Maria Teresa is a descendant of very prominent Cuban families that date back to the 1700's. These families are the Montalvo and O'Farrill families. I was doing some research and have found information on the O'Farrill family of which Maria Teresa is of course a direct descendant. Below is an excerpt of a study entitled "The Irish Presence in the History and Place Names of Cuba" where the founder of Maria Teresa's mother's dynasty, Richard O'Farrill O'Daly [Known in Cuba by the Spanish version of his name, "Ricardo"] is prominently figured. It is very interesting.

This is an excerpt from:

The Irish Presence in the History and Place Names of Cuba
By Rafael Fernandez-Moya
Translated by Annette Leahy

On 26 March 1713 the English Slave-Trading
Agreement (asiento) was signed, which would
remain in force for thirty years, and for this
purpose the South Sea Company was created
and obtained the monopoly for supplying
enslaved Africans to all the Spanish
possessions. Ricardo O’Farrill and Wergent
Nicholson ran a company in Havana which also
had a branch in Santiago de Cuba run by
Messrs. Cumberlege and Walsh.
Ricardo O’Farrill y O’Daly was a native of the
Caribbean island of Montserrat and a
descendant of a family whose lineage traces
back to County Longford. He married María
Josefa de Arriola y García de Londoño in 1720
and both would establish a prominent family in
the administration, economy and cultural
development of the country, as well as at the
heart of the Spanish-Cuban aristocracy. The
surname OFarrill appears in the family tree of
almost all the Havana families with noble titles.
At the beginning of 1721 Ricardo O’Farrill
asked to be granted Spanish citizenship and six
months later it was public knowledge that he
had travelled to Jamaica and brought part of his
assets consisting of 236 African men and
women of all ages, 260 barrels of flour, other
possessions and household furnishings, as well
as the materials necessary for the construction
of a sugar plantation back in Cuba. On 17
January of the following year a Royal Cédula
was signed which granted O’Farrill citizenship
in Spanish America and a licence to trade there
with the status of resident of Havana.
Besides working in slave-trading and the import
business, Ricardo O’Farrill became the
proprietor of two sugar plantations located in
Sabanilla, adjoining Tapaste, situated on the
road from Havana to Matanzas. The Tapas
church was built on land donated by
descendants of Don Ricardo, who died in 1730.
It seems Ricardo O’Farrill had his slave depot
on a short street known as Callejón de O’Farrill
(O’Farill’s Alley), which was also called La
Sigua and Las Recogidas, situated between
Picota and Compostela streets, in the port area
and near El Palenque – so called because it was
the State’s African slave depot. In the present
day this place is occupied by the Archivo
Nacional (National Archive) building. The
corner of Cuba and Chacón streets is where
Ricardo’s grandson Rafael built his home and is
called O’Farrill’s Corner. This mansion was
restored for private lodging and is now the
Hotel Palacio O’Farrill. Nowadays, in one of
the capital’s neighbourhoods, La Víbora, there
is a street called O’Farrill and another called
Alcalde (Mayor) O’Farrill, after one of the
Irishman’s descendants named Juan Ramón
O’Farrill, who chaired the City Hall of Havana
at the beginning of the twentieth century.


The Irish Presence in the History and Place Names of Cuba

 

[Rayarena]

As I have said before, Maria Teresa comes from a very old family with roots dating back to the 1700's. Here's a Youtube video of one Maria Teresa's ancestral palaces in Old Havana. This is the O'Farrill palace built by Rafael O'Farrill, the grandson of the founder of the dynasty, Richard O'Farrill O'Daly. As you can see, it is so massive and splendid that it is comparable to a great European estate.

What you are seeing of the great stone edifice is the central courtyard. It is now a hotel.

YouTube - Canadian and Cuban Celtic Musicians in Old Havana