Incredible facts
Although a woman named Mercédès Jellinek was never into cars, a well-known car brand was named after her.
Adriana Manuela Jellinek was born in 1889 in Austria to a Jewish family.
Everyone at home called her Mercedes, which means “mercy”, “gift” in Latin, and “grace” and “mercy” in Spanish.
Adriana-Mercedes with her father Emil
The girl's mother lived for some time in Morocco, in the Jewish diaspora next door to the Spanish community. So she knew Spanish and fell in love with the name Mercedes.
Adriana has been interested in singing and music since early childhood and, unlike her father, did not show interest in cars.
Emil Jellinek with his daughter
Mercedes at age 10
The girl's father was a famous diplomat and entrepreneur in Vienna. At the end of the 1890s, as fate would have it, he met designer, industrialist and engineer Gottlieb Daimler, as well as entrepreneur and car designer Wilhelm Maybach.
Emil saw the prospect of making great money on self-driving wheelchairs designed by Maybach and Daimler, and started selling these vehicles in Nice.
Emil racing in his car, 1899
Jellinek presents the Mercedes 35 HP in Nice, 1901
Thus, Emile becomes the representative of Daimler vehicles in France. He loved these cars so he decided to race one of them.
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But since Jellinek served as Austro-Hungarian consul, he spoke anonymously, using the pseudonym “Monsieur Mercedes”. This is how he killed three birds with one stone: he satisfied his wish, tested the car and made a good marketing move, making the French interested in Daimler cars.
How Mercedes got its name
After such an advertising campaign, Emil came to Daimler with an offer to buy 36 cars from him, which was a very large order at the time. But Jellinek set one condition: cars should be sold under the name Mercedes. At the same time, Emil takes on the job of a sales representative in the US, France and Austria-Hungary.
The deal was concluded, and it brought good income to both parties.
The first production car
1902 Mercedes Simplex, the oldest surviving
Daimler cars sold very well, and despite the fact that customers knew the name of the company very well, after a while everyone began to call cars only “Mercedes”. For this reason, in 1902, as a result of a decision by the Board of Shareholders, the car received a new official name — Daimler-Mercedes.
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In the same year, the Mercedes trademark was patented, and the Mercedes 35 HP was presented at an exhibition in Paris. It is noteworthy that next to the car at the exhibition hung an impressive portrait of Jellinek's daughter.
In 1926, Daimler and Benz, the two largest automobile corporations, merged, and as a result, the car was renamed Mercedes-Benz.
Emil Jellinek with his daughter
Mercedes Jellinek in 1905
On the left is Mercedes in 1905, on the right is Mercedes with her husband Carl von Schlosser in Venice in 1909
What did the girl do all this time while her father worked? When the baby was 4 years old, her mother died, and her father and children moved to Nice. Adriana later returned to Austria, where she continued to study vocals and music.
Mercedes's contemporaries said she was a good soprano. She did not follow the success of her namesake machines, and did not share her father's hobbies at all.
In 1909, the girl started a family with Baron Carl von Schlosser, but the marriage ended in a loud divorce — Adriana left her husband for a poor sculptor. Mercedes died of tuberculosis at age 39.
Mercedes Jellinek (right)
Adriana with her husband
In 1903, Emil added his daughter's nickname to his last name, and he was officially named Jellinek-Mercedes. Before him, no one had ever thought of turning his daughter's nickname into a family name.
During World War I, French authorities accused Emile and his second wife of espionage and confiscated property.
Adriana did nothing to boost the automotive industry, but became the most famous woman among motorists.
One of the first Mercedes models of 1913
And today, Mercedes continues to hold its position as a leader in the global car market, and its advertising campaigns are sometimes an art.