Tatiana von Metternich (1915–2006)

Princess Tatiana von Metternich, née Wassiltschikow [or Vassiltchikov], was born in St. Petersburg to a family of Russian aristocrats who served in the Russian Imperial Parliament and at court. They fled Russia in 1919 following the Bolshevik Revolution. Tatiana spent her early years as a refugee in France, Germany and Lithuania. She and her younger sister Marie intermittently attended school at the Lycée of Saint Germain-en-Laye, when their parents were in funds. Tatiana studied painting in Munich. The sisters spent the early years of World War II together in Germany, where Tatiana worked for a while with the Foreign Ministry and the Broadcasting Service, thanks to her command of several languages. In 1941, she married Prince Paul Alfons von Metternich-Winneburg, a great-grandson of the Prince Metternich who was Austrian chancellor at the 1815 Congress of Vienna. Tatiana was considered one of most beautiful women of her day and was a friend of many in international society. She volunteered for the Red Cross and became a patron of Lazarus-Hilfswerk, a German Christian charitable organization. With Michael Hermann, she co-founded the Rheingau Music Festival, which attracts world-famous soloists and artists. Her memoirs, Tatiana: Five Passports in a Shifting Europe, first published in 1976, were updated and republished in 1988. Her sister Marie Vassiltchikov's memoirs were published posthumously as Berlin Diaries: 1940-1945 (1985). Tatiana also published a couple of biographies and a book about Russia.