Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

{{Infobox royalty

| title = Countess of Mensdorff-Pouilly

| image = Princess Sophia of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1778-1835), later Countess von Mensdorff-Pouilly.jpg

| caption = Sophie, Countess of Mensdorff-Pouilly

| full name = Sophie Frederica Caroline Louise

| birth_date = {{birth date|1778|8|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Coburg

| death_date = {{death date and age|1835|7|9|1778|8|19|df=y}}

| death_place = Tuschimitz, Bohemia

| burial_place =

| house = {{plainlist|

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (until 1826)
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (from 1826)}}

| father = Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

| mother = Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf

| spouse = {{Marriage|Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly|23 February 1804}}

| issue = {{plainlist|

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}}

}}

Princess Sophie Friederike Karoline Luise of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (16 August 1778 – 9 July 1835) was a princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the sister of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and King Leopold I of Belgium, and the maternal aunt of Queen Victoria. By marriage, she was the Countess of Mensdorff-Pouilly.

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

Early life

File: SophieSaCoSa.jpg, Coburg]]

Sophie had a particularly close relationship with her sister, Antoinette, and both often attended the Schloss Fantaisie, a sanctuary of French emigrants. It was there where she met her future husband, Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly.Charles Grey: Die Jugendjahre des Prinzen Albert von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Perthes, 1868, p. 311 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 to have participated in the Battle of Saalfeld, he retrieved the remains of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia from the battlefieldFriedrich von Gentz, Adam Heinrich Müller (Knight of Nitterdorf): correspondence, JG Cotta, 1857, p. 85. and protected the residence of Sophie's father and family against the arrogance of the victorious French troops.Constantin von Wurzbach: Biographisches lexikon des kaiserthums Oesterreich, K. K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1867, p. 369.

From 1824 to 1834, Sophie lived in Mainz, where her husband was a commander of the federal fortress; here, she was generally referred to as "Princess". She was active as a writer and, in 1830, published her romantic collection of fairy tales, Mährchen und Erzählungen. She received the Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Catherine.Philipp Carl Gotthard Karche: Jahrbücher der Herzoglich Sächsischen Residenzstadt Coburg, Ahl, 1829, p. 70

Sophie died in Tuschimitz, Bohemia, on July 9, 1835. 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 Theresia von Lamberg (1833–1876), daughter of Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg
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)