Pauline von Metternich (1836–1921)

In 1856, Countess Pauline Sándor de Slavnica, a granddaughter of the famous statesman Prince von Metternich, married her half-uncle Prince Richard von Metternich, an Austrian diplomat with whom she had three daughters. She became an undisputed leader of society and cultural life in Vienna and then in Paris, where her husband was posted as ambassador to the court of Emperor Napoleon III. She was a close friend of the Empress Eugénie and an exuberant fashion trendsetter of the French Second Empire (she dubbed herself "the best-dressed monkey in Paris"). An avid patron of music, Princess Pauline von Metternich promoted the works of Wagner, Liszt and Smetana. Her salon was one of the most brilliant in Paris. Her memoirs, Souvenirs 1859-1871, were published posthumously in 1922.