According to tradition, the family which originated from ancient Rhenish-German nobility, came to Sweden from Livonia during the 17th century via the Polish Major Hildebrand Staël. The family was naturalized as Swedish Nobility on the 14th of October 1652, and the family was introduced at the Swedish House of Knights on the 20th of September 1675.
Currently the family has been divided in rank and station: one side of the family was raised to baronial status (Swedish: Friherrelig) in Sweden; another, to baronial level within the Russian Empire in 1869. The family has also been introduced in the Estonian and Latvian Houses of Nobility.
Famous representatives of the house in chronological order:
Johann Stael von Holstein (died 1512), Member of the Livonian Order and Vogt of JärvamaaMatthias Stael von Holstein (died 1649)Jakob Staël von Holstein (1628–1679), Swedish military officer and Marshall von LivoniaJohann Staël von Holstein (1636–1703), Swedish military officer and Gutsherr in IngriaMatthias Gustav Stael von Holstein (1666–1720), Swedish military officerOtto Wilhelm Staël von Holstein (1668–1730), Swedish baron and military officerFabian Ernst Stael von Holstein (1672–1730), Swedish Lieutenant General und Provost of the Baltic KnighthoodsJakob Axel Staël von Holstein (1680–1730), Swedish military officerGeorge Bogislaus Staël von Holstein (1685–1763), Swedish field marshal and governorJohann Staël von Holstein (1698–1751)Jakob Johann Stael von Holstein (1699–1755)Matthias Gustav Stael von Holstein (1702–1754)Fabian Ernst Stael von Holstein (1727–1772), Balto-German politician and head of the Baltic KnighthoodsBaron Erik Magnus Staël von Holstein (1749–1802), Swedish baron and diplomat, Ambassador to France and husband of Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (1766–1817)Corfitz Ludwig Staël von Holstein (1753–1819), Swedish military officer and diplomatKarl Gustav Stael von Holstein (1761–1816), Russian military officerAnne Louise Germaine de Staël (1766–1817), French writer, known as Madame de Staël, née NeckerMatthias Georg Stael von Holstein (1769–1853)Johann Alexander Staël von Holstein (1798–1868), Russian military officerBerend Fabian Staël von Holstein (1810–1898), Russian major-generalOtto Wilhelm Staël von Holstein (1834–1902), Swedish juristAlexander von Staël-Holstein (1877–1937), Estonian orientalist, sinologist und indologistNicolas de Staël (1914–1955), French painterJohan Staël von Holstein (born 1963), Swedish IT entrepreneurBaron Jan Stael von Holstein (born 1939) Swedish, Professor, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.David Yen von Staël-Holstein (born 1991)
