Blue-Blooded Jews. [Volume: 7, Issue: 2, May, 1898, pp. 61-63]

62

THE AMERICAN JEWESS

The heir and younger brother of
the fat and good humored Duke of
Massa is wedded to a Jewish lady of
the name of Coppens, who is as much
famed for the beauty of her voice as
her husband for his talent as a dramatist. The young Duchess de Maille
is of Hebrew descent, as is also the
enormously wealthy Compte de Greffulhe, who is married to the charming Princess de Chimay, so noted at
Paris for her Wagnerian enthusiasm.
The Duchess of Fitz-James, whose
husband likewise bears the titles of
Duke of Berwick and Duke of Liria
-and who is descended from the illegitimate son of King James II of
England, and of Arabella Churchill,
sister of the first Duke of Marlborough-is of Hebrew parentage. So,
too, is the mother of the present little
Duke of Decazes, who married one
of the daughters of Mr. Singer, of
sewing machine fame.
The young Duke of Brissac is the
son of a lady of Hebrew parentage,
who now bears the name of Vicomtesse de Tredern. The viscountess
is famous not only as possessing the
finest amateur contralto voice in
Paris, but also in connection with
the valuable support which she gave
to General Boulanger. Her sister is
the wife of the oldest son and heir of
the Duke of Broglie.
The Duchess de Castries, sister-inlaw of the late Marshall MacMahon,
and who since the death of her first
husband has married Viscount Emmanuel d'Harcourt, a member of the
ducal house of that name, is the
daughter of the enormously wealthy
Austro-Jewish banker, Baron Sina.
Few people are aware that Prince
Bismarck is of Hebrew descent. He
derives his Jewish blood from his
mother, 'whose father-Anastasius
Menken, one of the favorite bureaucrats of Frederick the Great-was of
Hebrew parentage. Although of late

it has evidently appeared politic to
the Prince to countenance the antiSemitic movement both in Germany
and Austria, yet while in office he invariably showed himself a good friend
to the Jewish nation, and chose the
Hebrew banker at Berlin, Baron von
Bleichroeder, as his most trusted
confidant. Indeed, in those days he
was so well disposed toward the Jews
that he even discussed the advisability of marrying his sons to Jewesses,
on the ground that it would bring
money into the family again, and
likewise "improve both morally and
physically the Bismarck breed."
Members of the Hebrew race are
found not only in the greatest families of Austria and Germany, but
also in the highest offices of these
two countries. Thus, for instance,
Colonel von Mossner, aide de camp of
Empercr William, is a Jew both by
birth and faith, while the late president of the Supreme Court of the
German Empire, Baron von Simpson, as well as the late Minister of
Justice, Baron Friedberg, his successor, Baron von Schelling, and Baron
von Luscius, the Minister of Agriculture, were all of Israelite parentage. Colonel von Mossner, I may
add, commands the favorite regiment
of Hussars of Emperor William, and
was ennobled by the latter in I890.
His father's family name was Moses.
The first Hebrew ennobled in Germony was Jacob Loans, the physician
of Emperor Frederick III, who
reigned at the commencement of the
fifteenth century. Almost a hundred
years then elapsed before another Jew
was ennobled in the person of William Schaffel. To-day there is hardly
one of the great families of the Swabian aristocracy which does not include his name among the number of
its ancestors.
In 1622 Emperor Ferdinand II of
Germany conferred nobiliary title

I