Count Leo-Ferdinand Maria Lazarus Romwolt Wilhelm Edwin Gerhard Henckel von Donnersmarck (26 December 1935 – 23 July 2009) was a German-Polish historian, businessman, and Catholic lay worker. He worked as an executive for the German airline

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

from 1967 to 1996. After retiring from business, Henckel von Donnersmarck served as the President of the German Association of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

from 1997 to 2006. He was made a Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta's highest honour. He was also a member of the

Forum of German Catholics The Forum of German Catholics (german: Forum Deutscher Katholiken) is a conservative Catholic lay organization in Germany. It was founded in 2000 in opposition to the Central Committee of German Catholics. History and function The Forum of ...

and, prior to that, a member of the

Central Committee of German Catholics The Central Committee of German Catholics (german: Zentralkomitee der deutschen Katholiken, ZdK) is a lay body comprising representatives of various Catholic organisations in Germany. They organise the Catholic Days in Germany. The organisation ...

. Henckel von Donnersmarck was twice awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

, receiving a Cross of Merit in 1991 and a Grand Cross of Merit in 2009.

Early life, family, and education

Count Leo-Ferdinand Henckel von Donnersmarck was born on 26 December 1935 in Beuthen O.S. to Count Friedrich-Carl Henckel von Donnersmarck, a member of the

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

n nobility and a philosophist who specialized on the works of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

, and Countess Anna-Ilse von Zitzewitz, a member of the

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

n nobility. He had a brother, Gregor. He was a member of the House of Henckel von Donnersmarck, an Austro-Hungarian noble family with agricultural holdings and mining operations in Silesia since the 17th century. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the family's estates fell under the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

and their properties and assets were seized by the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

. When Henckel von Donnersmarck was nine years old, he and his parents, as Silesian Germans, were forced to leave their home due to the expulsion of the Germans from Poland by the Soviet army. In 1943, his father was drafted to serve in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

and immediately surrendered to American troops. The family, left impoverished, became refugees and settled in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Henckel von Donnersmarck studied law and political science at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

and completed a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

at the

Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San F ...

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...

Career

In 1967, Henckel von Donnersmarck began working as an executive at

, a transport company and flag carrier of Germany. He retired in 1996. From 2003 to 2009, he served on the board of trustees of Fürst Donnersmarck-Stiftung, a family foundation focusing on the rehabilitation of disabled people in Berlin. Henckel von Donnermarck was a member of the

. From 2000 to 2009, he served on the board of the

. From 1997 to 2006, he served as the President of the

's German Association. During his presidency, he restructured the Maltese Relief Service. At the international level of the order, he acted as

primus inter pares ''Primus inter pares'' is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their sen ...

of the forty-seven presidents of national associations of the Order of Malta. He was succeeded by Prince Erich von Lobkowicz. Henckel von Donnersmarck was made a Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta's highest rank. Henckel von Donnersmarck was twice awarded the

, receiving a Cross of Merit in 1991 and a Grand Cross of Merit in 2009, presented by Klaus Wowereit.

Personal life

In 1968, he married the literary scout and activist Countess Anna-Maria von Berg. His wife, who came from a noble family in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

, was four years old when her family fled to West Germany in order to escape the Soviet Army. Prior to their marriage, she was active in Leftist student movements in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. The couple had two sons, Sebastian and Florian. When their sons were three and one, respectively, the family moved to

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

as part of a social experiment created by the Empire State Development Corporation to establish an economically diverse community on the former welfare island. The family left the island in 1981 and returned to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Henckel von Donnersmarck was Catholic and deeply religious. His brother, Gregor, was an abbot.

Death and burial

Henckel von Donnersmarck died on 23 July 2009 in Berlin after battling

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. While in the hospital, he was shown a special screening of ''

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...

'' organized by

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

. A Latin

requiem mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

took place at

Heiligenkreuz Abbey Heiligenkreuz Abbey (german: Stift Heiligenkreuz; en, Abbey of the Holy Cross) is a Cistercian monastery in the village of Heiligenkreuz in the southern part of the Vienna woods, c. 13 km north-west of Baden in Lower Austria. It is the olde ...

, where his brother served as Abbot. The funeral was attended by members of the Henckel von Donnersmarck family and by representatives of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He was buried in the family mausoleum at Wolfsberg Castle in

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henckel von Donnersmack, Leo-Ferdinand 1935 births 2009 deaths Counts of Austria Bailiffs Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Counts in Germany Deaths from leukemia German people of Austrian descent German refugees German Roman Catholics Leo-Ferdinand INSEAD alumni People from Bytom Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Silesian-German people University of Vienna alumni Victims of post–World War II forced migrations