Armand, Duc de Bisaccia

The de La Rochefoucauld family has been part of French Nobility since the 13th century and Armand de La Rochefoucauld was the 5th Duc de Doudeauville, 10th Marquess de Surgères and 12th Duc de Bisaccia. His father Sosthène de la Rochefoucauld was a former French Ambassador in London. Armand was one of the founders of the Bagatelle Polo club in Paris in 1892 and brother Edouard was also one of the club’s original players.

Armand served as President of the Paris Polo Club and between 1919-62 was a President of the French Jockey Club. His father held the same post between 1884 and 1908. During Armand’s Presidency, it was his proposal that got the Duke of Edinburgh elected to the Jockey Club in 1953. As a polo player, Armand won nothing of note, the nearest probably being as a member of the Paris side which lost to the Bagatelle Club in the final of the Ostend tournament in 1906. He had previously played for the Compiègne Polo Club at the 1900 Olympics, but his Olympic career consisted of just one match, which saw his team beaten 10-0 by the eventual champions, the combined British and American Foxhunter’s Hurlingham team.