Last updated on 2024-02-27
Jules Arnous de Riviere was a French player. He was born on May 4th, 1830, in Nantes. I retrieved his birth certificate here: https://archives-numerisees.nantes.fr/v2/am441/visualiseur/etatcivil.html?id=451003265:
His real name was actually Jules Arnous Riviere. I don’t know when he added the “de” in his name.
Jules Arnous Riviere is also quoted in an article entitled “Les élèves de l’École Nationale d’Administration de 1848-1849” (Students at the École Nationale d’Administration in 1848-1849) available here. While being “canonnier au 12e régiment d’infanterie”, he took the entrance exam to the school in November 1849 and finished 119th. He was however admitted to the school thanks to the strong support of his uncle, Admiral Arnous-Dessaulsay.
Arnous de Rivière died on Septembre 11th, 1905, in Paris. An obituary can be found in L’Illustration, Nr 3264, September 16th, 1905 . It says:
L’Illustration deeply regrets the loss of one of its longest-standing contributors, Mr. Jules Arnous de Rivière, who passed away in his seventy-fifth year, after a brief illness. For many years, he had been especially involved, with as much ingenuity as competence, in the section of the journal devoted to Recreational Science and Witty Games; remaining until the end in full possession of his intellectual activity, death alone marked the end of his assiduous labor.
A great expert in all games, skilled at solving the most complicated problems, M. A. de Rivière wrote various works on chess, checkers, billiards, cards, thirty and forty; he invented the diagonal checkerboard, two-color dominoes, the salta-steeple, the national star, etc.
In the world of chess, in particular, he had acquired a universal reputation: in the past, he had the honor of standing up to the famous American player Murphy, nicknamed “the Napoleon of chess”, and sometimes even succeeded in beating him.
In 1870, Mr. A. de Rivière, although approaching forty, had taken an active part in the defense of Paris, and his valour had earned him the military medal.
He was a man of great courtesy and perfect affability, in whom setbacks and setbacks worthily endured had altered neither the qualities of the mind nor those of the heart, right up to the end of his life.
His death certificate can be found here (page 29):
We learn in particular that Jules Arnous de Rivière was living at number 11, rue Radziwill, with his wife Joséphine Marie Louise de Coulhac-Mazérieux.
They had married on October 28th, 1858 in Paris. According to Joséphine de COULHAC-MAZÉRIEUX : généalogie par Base collaborative Pierfit (pierfit) – Geneanet, his wife, born on January 24th, 1834, was a widow who had been married between 1853 and 1855.
Frederick Edge writes about this marriage in his book about Paul Morphy:
This gentleman is incontestably the most rising of the French players, and will make some amateurs tremble for their chess reputation ere long. In 1851 , he did not know a move in the game, so that his progress has been rapid ; and as he has not yet reached his thirtieth year, it is only probable that he will become much stronger ; that is, if he will keep up his practice, which is not certain , inasmuch as he has lately become “ mated ” in a manner mostagreeable to his feelings, and we have heard of ladies who object to their lords and masters making love to other nymphs –even though that nymph be Caïssa . Let us hope that, in this instance, Pater Familias, whose “ intentions are strictly honorable,” may be allowed an occasional respite from the cradle and perambulator, and that “ curtain lectures ” will not deter him from hot pursuit after other men’s queens.
A lot of information can be found on geneanet.org at this page: https://gw.geneanet.org/simonth?fc=geneastar&idgeneastar=gntstar17752&n=arnous+riviere&nz=arnous+riviere&oc=&ocz=0&p=jules&pz=jules
In French: https://lecafedelaregence.blogspot.com/2018/06/jules-arnous-de-riviere.html and http://heritageechecsfra.free.fr/arnous.htm
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