Dag von Schmidt

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Dag von Schmidt (1916-2005) was a Braslander media tycoon. He was the son of Erich Schmidt.

He attended the St Ignatius Gymnasium, a very exclusive school for the industrial elite of Brasland. Then, he served for two years in the Royal Army.

After completing his military service his parents sent him on a trip to Europe in order to expand his horizons. In Rome, at a reception hosted by the Braslander ambassador, he met Countess Vittoria Brigenti, the young and beatiful wife of a prominent Roman politician several years her senior. She was five years older than him, but the two fell in love and began an affaire. Vittoria became pregnant and she and Dag eloped to Switzerland, where their son Erich was born. Roman society was shocked and the affaire was the talk of Italy's upper class. While Vittoria started a process to annul the marriage, she obtained a divorce in 1940 and married to Dag in Geneva, although only civilly. The family remained in Europe during the war.

The couple had three children: Erich (born 1938), Vittoria (born 1939) and Georg (born 1942).

In 1946, a religious annulment was granted and the couple married in Geneva. Shortly afterwards they returned to Brasland, where Dag took over the family newspaper, The Markund Times. His brother-in-law, Nikolaus Steinberg, had become Erich's right hand in the rest of the family's businesses.

Dag was an extremely sociable man, with unusual charm and good looks. Despite their turbulent history, he and Vittoria became popular figures in Markund and were invited to different events. This helped him to make contacts and start new businesses with friends. He started buying small regional newspapers, as well as radio stations. Eventually this would become the Schmidt media empire.

In 1956, Erich Schmidt died, leaving Dag and his sister Flora (who was childless) as only heirs. Dag and Nikolaus Steinberg each managed different branches of the family businesses, but remained in excellent terms with each other. Nikolaus suddenly died in 1958, and Dag had to assume the leadership of all the companies, which were merged under one great holding called the Schmidt Group.

In 1961 Dag was ennobled by King George III. This only increased his prestige in Markund.

In the 1960s Dag's younger son Georg and his son-in-law, Count Ludwig von Henslen, helped him manage the Schmidt Group. His eldest son, Erich, was discarded by his father as he was a playboy known for his love of the fast life.

The Schmidt Group grew and consolidated during the 1970s and 1980s, making the family one of the richest in Brasland, and certainly the most powerful after the House of Balkronn.

During the republican regime, the Schmidts had a very tense relationship with the government. As monarchists and part of what the socialists saw as 'the old order', they were harrased and many companies were nationalised. To avoid further problems, Dag divided his empire between his grandson Dag (son of Erich) and his two surviving children, Vittoria and Georg. He and Vittoria left Brasland and went to live in Switzerland, where they had a villa in Lake Léman. After this, he ceased his involvements in the companies, a sign intended to diminish the government's pressue over the family. After the restoration of the monarchy, following a tacit agreement between the family, the companies were merged again under a new Schmidt Group.

Dag and Vittoria did not return to Brasland. He died in 2005, and she followed him months later.