Melanie Metternich-Zichy

Princess Melanie Marie Pauline Alexandrine von Metternich-Zichy (27 February 1832 in Vienna – 16 November 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian aristocrat.

[1] A member of the House of Metternich, she was the daughter of Austrian diplomat and politician Prince Klemens von Metternich and his third wife, Countess Melanie Zichy-Ferraris (1805–1854).

[2] Not a traditional conservative like her father, Princess Melanie Metternich-Zichy played a role in founding the Christian Social Party (Austria).

For example, in 1888, her palace was the site of a meeting of politicians who would eventually found the Christian Social Party; that meeting was attended by, among others, Karl Lueger and Karl Freiherr von Vogelsang.

[3] French journalist Dominique Paoli claimed to have found evidence that Maxime Weygand was the illegitimate offspring of Belgian general Alfred van der Smissen and Mélanie Zichy-Metternich, lady-in-waiting to Empress Carlota.