Background
In 1802, Sophie married Anne-Charles Lebrun, the eldest son of Charles-François Lebrun later duc de Plaisance (this last one who along with Napoleon Bonaparte had served as one of three Consuls of France from 1799-1804).
Duchess of Plaisance Governor of Holland
In 1802, Sophie married Anne-Charles Lebrun, the eldest son of Charles-François Lebrun later duc de Plaisance (this last one who along with Napoleon Bonaparte had served as one of three Consuls of France from 1799-1804).
She became an ardent financial supporter of public education. In 1834, the Duchess returned to Greece and settled in the new capital Athens. She purchased large amounts of agricultural land chiefly near Mountain.
Penteli, but all around Athens.
She engaged the Greek architect, Stamatios Kleanthis to design a palace for her on the slopes of Mountain. Penteli. Such was the sorrow of the Duchess that she had her daughter"s body embalmed and returned to Athens where it was placed in a crypt under her temporary home on Peiraios Street.
Kleanthis completed the Tower of the Duchess of Plaisance in 1841 and then set to work on Villa Illisia, which was completed in 1848. Today the Villa Illisia is the site of the Byzantine Museum.
A central fixture in the social life of Othonian Athens, the Duchess would host symposia on various topics of religion and politics in her palace.
She was also known to dole out funds and titles of courtesy to those whom she found favorable. She sponsored the building of a Jewish temple in Halkida, Euboea. Later in life, she commissioned Kleanthis to begin the construction of a final home and resting place for her beloved daughter"s remains, the Castle of Rododafni.
She would never live to see the house completed.
In 1847, it caught fire and was burned to the ground. Today an Athens Metro station, built on her original lands, is named Doukissis Plakentias station (Δουκίσσης Πλακεντίας).