Mensdorff-Pouilly family

House of Mensdorff-Pouilly
Parent family	Pouilly
Place of origin	Pouilly-sur-Meuse
Founder	Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Final head	Alexander, 3rd Prince von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg
Titles	Prince von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Estate(s)	Schloss Mikulov (Nikolsburg)
Dissolution	1964 (1964)

The House of Mensdorff-Pouilly is the name of a noble family originally from Lorraine. The family derived its name from the barony of Pouilly at Stenay in Meuse. Through Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, wife of Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly, the family is closely related to the royal families of Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom.

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, named for a place 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. The family motto is Fortitudine et caritate. The Mensdorff-Pouilly family succeeded the extinct House of Dietrichstein, one of Europe’s most distinguished noble families.

Through Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, wife of Count Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1777–1852), the family is closely related to the royal families of Belgium, Sweden, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

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 (born 1948), Czech animator.

Gallery

• 
  Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly
• 
  Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly
• 
  Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein

Coats of arms

• 
  Original arms of the Pouilly family
• 
  Comital arms of the Mensdorff-Pouilly family in 1844
• 
  Princely arms of the Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein family in 1868

Literature

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