Coudenhove-Kalergi family

The Coudenhove-Kalergi family is a Bohemian noble family of mixed Flemish and Cretan Greek descent,[3] which was formed after Count Franz Karl von Coudenhove (1825–1893) married Marie Kalergi (1840–1877). The Coudenhoves were counts of the Holy Roman Empire since 1790 and were prominent in the Habsburg Netherlands. After the upheaval of the French Revolution, they moved to Austria. The Kallergis family had enjoyed high status in Crete, having been sent there by Byzantine emperor Alexios II Komnenos in the mid-12th century.[4] They remained there during the Venetian occupation (1204–1669) and subsequently moved to the Venetian-held Ionian Islands. Their palazzo in Venice is still standing.

Coudenhove-Kalergi
Parent houseCoudenhove (paternal line)
Kallergis (maternal line)
Founded1903 (1903)
FounderHeinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi
TitlesCount of Coudenhove-Kalergi
von Ronspergheim (awarded in 1918)[1][2]
Maximilian von Coudenhove
Max von Coudenhove
Marie Nesselrode
Marie Kalergi
Mitsuko Aoyama
Count Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi

History

The Coudenhove family dates back to the Duchy of Brabant nobleman and crusader Gerolf I de Coudenhove (died 1259) and after it fought for the Habsburgs in the Dutch Revolt, the family moved to Flanders before the Habsburgs and Coudenhoves left after the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) was taken by the Revolutionary French Republic.[5]

The Kallergis family is a Cretan Greek noble family originating from the 11th or 12th century,[6] which claims descent from the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas.[7][8][9] During the Venetian rule over Crete, the Kallergis family was one of the most important Greek Orthodox families on the island. Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi describes in his book An idea conquers the world the Kallergis name is composed of the Greek word kalon (=beautiful) and ergon (from ergō="work, task, deed, accomplishment, or purpose") [Greek: Καλλ(ι)έργης > Καλλέργης, known in many versions as Kalergis, Calergis, Kallergi, Callergi, Calergi].[10] Over the centuries, Polish, Norwegian, Baltic, French, and German lineages were absorbed into the Kallergis family.[11]


The two families united when, on 27 June 1857 in Paris, Count Franz Karl von Coudenhove (1825–1893) married Marie Kalergi, only daughter of Polish pianist Maria Nesselrode and her husband, Jan Kalergis. The lands thus combined included the Zamato estate in the Carinthian mountains, the castle of Ottensheim in Upper Austria, and the Ronsperg (Czech: Poběžovice) estate and castle in western Bohemia.

Franz and Marie had six children, including Heinrich, the first count to use the double-barrelled name.[12] In 1917 when Heinrich's eldest son, Johannes Evangelist Virgilio Coudenhove-Kalergi, was 24 years old, he asked Emperor Charles I of Austria to give him the title Coudenhove-Kalergi of Ronspergheim (von Ronspergheim), and the Emperor granted this request.[1]

Family members
  • Count Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1859–1906), who married Mitsuko Aoyama and had:
    • Johannes Evangelist Virgilio Coudenhove-Kalergi von Ronspergheim (1893–1965), author of the cannibalism novel Ich fraß die weiße Chinesin (I ate the white Chinese) by the pen name Duca di Centigloria.[2]
      • Marie-Electa Thekla Elisabeth Christine Helene Sophie "Marina" Coudenhove-Kalergi von Ronspergheim (1927–2000), daughter of Johannes and his first wife Lilly. Married in Phoenix, Arizona in 1954. Died in Los Angeles in 2000.
    • Count Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894–1972), Austrian writer, politician and founder of the International Paneuropean Union
    • Gerolf Coudenhove-Kalergi / Count Gerolf von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1896–1978)
      • Hans-Heinrich Richard Gerolf Karl Urban Maria Omnes Sancti Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 1926)
        • Sophia Bowie Marie Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 1970)
        • Dominik Cornelius Valentin Gerolf Eugene Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 1973), in 2009 he married Vincenz Liechtenstein's daughter Princess Adelheid Marie Beatrice Zita (born 1981).
          • Xenia Marie Cornelia Hélène Zita Anna Therese Hildegard Omnes Sancti Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 2011)
          • Tatiana Maria Mitsuko Benedikta Zita Sophie Ferdinandine Gisela Omnes Sancti Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 2013)
          • Olympia Marie Gladys Zita Barbara Mauricette Elena Omnes Sancti Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 2016)
      • Karl Jakob Maria Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 1928)
      • Barbara Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 1932), Czech-Austrian journalist, Gerold's daughter
      • Michael Coudenhove-Kalergi (born 1937), painter[2][13]
    • Elisabeth Maria Anna Coudenhove-Kalergi (1898–1936), secretary of Engelbert Dollfuss
    • Olga Marietta Henriette Maria Coudenhove-Kalergi (1900–1976)
    • Ida Friederike Görres (1901–1971), sixth child of Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi, Catholic author
    • Karl Heinrich Franz Maria Coudenhove-Kalergi (1903–1987)

Ancestors
Arms of the Counts of Coudenhove

Coudenhove family
  • Franz Ludwig von Coudenhove (1783−1851), adjutant of Archduke Charles army[2]
  • Maximilian von Coudenhove (1805−1889), Austrian feldmarschallleutnant
  • Franz Karl von Coudenhove (1825–1893), father of Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1859–1906)
  • Max von Coudenhove / Max Julius Viktor Maria von Coudenhove (1865–1928), Austrian diplomat

Kalergis family

References
  1. Kleisner, Tomas (2012). "The Medals of The Counts Coudenhove". Sborník Národního Muzea - C. Series C – Historia Litterarum vol.57. Academia.edu: 155. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. "Familie Coudenhove". Paneuropa Deutschland - Paneuropa-Union. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  3. Parrinder, Patrick; Partington, John S. (2005-05-12). The Reception of H.G. Wells in Europe. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 321. ISBN 978-1-84714-444-7. Archived from the original on 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
  4. "One Europe". Time. November 29, 1943.
  5. Coudenhove Archived 2015-07-19 at the Wayback Machine t patricus.info
  6. "Crete, the 12 young rulers from Byzantium". Explore Crete. Archived from the original on 2021-09-14.
  7. Alice-Mary Talbot & Denis F. Sullivan (2005). The History of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century. Dumbarton Oaks, Book II, p. 80.
  8. David Holton (ed.) (1991). Literature and Society in Renaissance Crete, Cambridge University Press, p. 80.
  9. Melchior Vogüé (marquis de), "Charles Henri Auguste Schefer". Revue de l'Orient Latin, Volume 11 p. 111.
  10. Richard Nicolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi (Graf von)An idea conquers the world, Roy Publishers 1954, p. 4
  11. Whittaker Chambers (1996). Terry Teachout (ed.). Ghosts on the Roof: Selected Journalism. Transaction Publishers. doi:10.4324/9780203790786. ISBN 9780203790786.
  12. "Ronsperg". Heimatkreis Bischofteinitz e. V. (in German). Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  13. "Michael Coudenhove-Kalergi". Art Directory. Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coudenhove-Kalergi family.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.