Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria

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Archduke Rainer Ferdinand Maria Johann Evangelist Franz Ignaz of Austria (11 January 1827 – 27 January 1913) was an Austrian prince and politician who served as

In 1852, Archduke Rainer married his cousin

Rainer was popular with the nonaristocratic population of Vienna, often walking the streets on foot.[1]

While Rainer's military and political career was largely forgotten, his interest in art and science proved more lasting. Later in his life, Archduke Rainer became interested in the emerging science of papyrology, the study of preserved papyrus in the deserts of Egypt that offered primary source documents from centuries earlier. In 1878–1879, the Viennese dealer in antiquities Theodor Graf [de] purchased recently found papyri from Faiyum, known as Arsinoe in the Hellenistic period. Graf contacted Professor of Oriental History at the University of Vienna Josef Karabacek [de] and arranged the shipping of around 10,000 papyri to him. The papyri made their way to Vienna in 1881 and 1882 while awaiting a buyer; at the end of 1883, Archduke Rainer agreed to purchase the papyri. Professor Karabacek managed and processed both the sale and the collection. The collection was initially stored at the Österreichischen Museum für Kunst und Industrie (the predecessor of the modern Museum of Applied Arts). Archduke Rainer continued to expand the collection with new purchases that Graf arranged, including papyri from digs at Hermopolis, Heracleopolis Magna, and other sites in the Faiyum area such as Soknopaiou Nesos. Rainer gifted the collection to his uncle Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on August 18, 1899 as a birthday present. At Rainer's request, Franz Joseph incorporated them as a special collection at the Imperial and Royal Court Library (now known as the Austrian National Library).^[2] Rainer's vast purchases provided the core of the collection that still exists today as one of the most significant collection of papyri in the world. The Rainer collection at the Austrian National Library was given the honour of becoming part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2001.^[3]

Austro-Hungarian^[4]

• Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1852^[5]
• Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1862^[5]
• Military Merit Cross, in Diamonds
• Bronze Military Merit Medal on Red Ribbon

Foreign^[4]