Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck
Did I find another long-lost family member? Just maybe! Introducing: Guido Georg Friedrich Erdmann Heinrich Adalbert Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck, from 1901 Prince (Fürst) Henckel von Donnersmarck (born 10 August 1830 in Breslau, died 19 December 1916 in Berlin) was a German nobleman, industrial magnate, member of the House of Henckel von Donnersmarck and one of the richest men of his time. He was married in his first marriage to the famed French courtesan Esther Lachmann, known as La Païva, of Russian Jewish origin.
His first wife was Pauline Thérèse Lachmann (b. Moscow, 7 May 1819 – d. Neudeck, 21 January 1884), a courtesan better known as La Païva. They married in Paris on 28 October 1871. Besides the château of Pontchartrain, Henckel gave her the famous yellow Donnersmarck Diamonds – one pear-shaped and weighing 82.4 carats (16.48 g), the other cushion-shaped and 102.5 carats (20.50 g).[13] Horace de Viel-Castel wrote that she regularly wore some two million francs’ worth of diamonds, pearls and other gems.
It was widely believed, but never proved, that La Païva and her husband were asked to leave France in 1877 on suspicion of espionage.[6] In any case, Henckel brought his wife to live in his castle at Neudeck in Upper Silesia. He had a second estate at Hochdorf in Lower Silesia.
Learn more about Guido Henckel here!