Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

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Princess Sophie
Countess of Mensdorff-Pouilly
File:Sophie Friederike Gräfin Mensdorff-Pouilly Prinzessin Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha.jpg
Sophie, Countess of Mensdorff-Pouilly, born Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Born (1778-08-19)19 August 1778
Coburg
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Tuschimitz, Bohemia
Spouse Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Issue Hugo Ferdinand von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Alphons, Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Alfred Carl von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Leopold Emanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Arthur August von Mensdorff-Pouilly
Full name
Sophie Fredericka Caroline Louise
House House of Wettin (by birth)
House of Mensdorff-Pouilly
(by marriage)
Father Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Mother Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf

Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Sophie Fredericka Caroline Louise; 19 August 1778 – 9 July 1835) was a princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and the sister of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and King Leopold I of Belgium, and aunt of Queen Victoria. By marriage, she was a Countess of Mensdorff-Pouilly.

Born in Coburg, the eldest child of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf.

Early life

File:SophieSaCoSa.jpg
Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld as young lady, Schloss Callenberg, Coburg.

Sophie had a particular close relationship with her sister Antoinette and both often attended the Schloss Fantaisie, a sanctuary of French emigrants. Was there where she met her future husband, Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly.[1] They married on 23 February 1804 in Coburg. Her husband was elevated to count in 1818.

In 1806, her husband was in Saalfeld, a secondary residence of the Coburg court. Therefore, it was possible for him participated in the Battle of Saalfeld, retrieved the remains of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia from the battlefield[2] and protect the residence of Sophie's father and family against the arrogance of the victorious French troops.[3]

From 1824 to 1834 Sophie lived in Mainz, where her husband was a commander of the federal fortress; here she was generally referred as "Princess". She was active as a writer and 1830 published her romantic collection of fairy tales, Mährchen und Erzählungen. Sophie received the Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Catherine.[4]

Sophie died in Tuschimitz, Bohemia. She was buried in the park of Schloss Preitenstein, the family residence of the Mensdorff-Pouilly family.

Family

Emmanuel and Sophie had six sons:

  • Hugo Ferdinand von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1806–1847).
  • Alphons, Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1810–1894); married, firstly, in 1843, Countess Therese von Dietrichstein-Proskau-Leslie (1823–1856). Married, secondly, in 1862, Countess Maria Thersia von Lamberg (1833–1876).
  • Alfred Carl von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1812–1814).
  • Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1813–1871), Fürst von Dietrichstein zu Nikolsburg 1868, was Austrian Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Austria in the 1860s; married in 1857 Countess Alexandrine Maria von Dietrichstein-Proskau-Leslie (1824–1906).
  • Leopold Emanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1815–1832).
  • Arthur August von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1817–1904); married, firstly, in 1853, Magdalene Kremzow (1835–1899), divorced in 1882. Married, secondly, in 1902, Countess Bianca Albertina von Wickenburg (1837–1912).

References

  1. Charles Grey: Die Jugendjahre des Prinzen Albert von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Perthes, 1868, p. 311
  2. Friedrich von Gentz, Adam Heinrich Müller (Knight of Nitterdorf): correspondence, JG Cotta, 1857, p. 85.
  3. Constantin von Wurzbach: Biographisches lexikon des kaiserthums Oesterreich, K. K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1867, p. 369.
  4. Philipp Carl Gotthard Karche: Jahrbücher der Herzoglich Sächsischen Residenzstadt Coburg, Ahl, 1829, p. 70