De Vilallonga is a Catalan noble surname belonging to an aristocratic family from Catalonia, Spain. The name is toponymic in origin, deriving from the place name Vilallonga (meaning "long village" in Catalan, from vila "village" + llonga "long"), a locality in the province of Girona. Members of the family have historically held several noble titles, including the Marquess of Castellbell (with the rank of Grandee of Spain), the Barony of Maldà i Maldanell, and the Barony of Segur.
Notable members
José Luis de Vilallonga (1920–2007)
José Luis de Vilallonga y Cabeza de Vaca, 9th Marquess of Castellbell, was a Spanish aristocrat, author, journalist, and film actor. Born in Madrid, he fought on the Nationalist side during the Spanish Civil War as a teenager. He later became a diplomat, then a writer and journalist in France, contributing to Paris Match, Marie Claire, and Vogue. His first novel, Les Ramblas finissent à la mer (1953), was banned in Francoist Spain.
As an actor, he appeared in over 70 films, most famously as José da Silva Pereira, the Brazilian millionaire who courts Holly Golightly in Blake Edwards' Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). He also appeared in Louis Malle's The Lovers (1958), Federico Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits (1965), and John Schlesinger's Darling (1965). He wrote the only authorized biography of King Juan Carlos I of Spain, El Rey (1993). Politically, he evolved from his early monarchist and Nationalist background to become a socialist sympathizer, briefly joining the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in 1981. He was known as "the last dandy" and was appointed an Officer of the French Legion of Honour.
Alfonso de Vilallonga (b. 1962)
Alfonso de Vilallonga i Serra (also Alfons de Vilallonga), Baron of Maldà i Maldanell and Baron of Segur, is a Catalan musician, singer-songwriter, and film composer. He studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has composed film scores for several notable films, including Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me (2002) and The Bookshop (2017), and Pablo Berger's Blancanieves (2012), for which he won a Goya Award for Best Original Score. He is the nephew of José Luis de Vilallonga.
Fernando de Vilallonga (20th century)
Fernando de Vilallonga was a Catalan entrepreneur and urban developer best known as the driving force behind the creation of Empuriabrava, a large residential marina and tourist complex on the Costa Brava (Girona), developed from the 1960s onward. He was also an aviation enthusiast and helped establish the Empuriabrava aerodrome.
Etymology
The surname is composed of the Catalan words vila ("village, town") and llonga ("long"), referring to a long, linear settlement. It is related to the place name Vilallonga (also spelled Vilallonga de Ter in Girona) and is a common type of toponymic surname in the Catalan-speaking territories.
