Mensdorff-Pouilly family

The Mensdorff-Pouilly family is a noble family originally from Lorraine. The family derived its name from the barony of Pouilly at Stenay in Meuse.

History
In 1790, during the French Revolution, Albert Louis de Pouilly (1731–1795) emigrated with his family. His sons Albert and Emmanuel changed the family name to Mensdorff-Pouilly, which refers to a village in the county of Roussy in Luxembourg.

In 1818, Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly received a comital title from the Austrian Emperor, and he was recognized as noble in Bohemia (the Inkolat) in 1839. Through Emmanuel's wife, Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the family is closely related to the royal families of Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom.

As a result of the marriage of Count Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly with Alexandrine von Dietrichstein (1824–1906), daughter of Joseph Franz, Prince of Dietrichstein, Alexander changed his branch's name to Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein. He received the hereditary title of Prince von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg in 1868 from the Austrian Emperor.

The princely branch of the family died out in the male line upon the death in 1964 of Alexander, 3rd Prince von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg, but the comital line continues to exist. The family motto is Fortitudine et caritate.

Notable members

 * Count Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1777–1852), Vice Governor of the Fortress of Mainz.
 * Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1778–1835), wife of Emmanuel and sister of both King Leopold I of Belgium and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, thus the aunt of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
 * Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly, Prince von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg (1813–1871), son of Emmanuel and Sophie; Austrian Foreign Minister (1864–1866).
 * Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein (1861–1945), younger son of Alexander; Austrian diplomat.
 * Countess Clotilde Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi (1867–1942), daughter of Alexander; women's rights advocate and diplomat for Hungary.
 * Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly (animator) (born 1948), Czech animator.

Literature

 * Eddie de Tassigny: Les Mensdorff-Pouilly. Le destin d'une famille émigrée en 1790. Le Bois d’Hélène, Bihorel 1998.