Karl Heinrich von Hoym
Karl Heinrich Graf von Hoym or Count Karl Heinrich von Hoym[1] (18 June 1694 – 22 April 1736) was a diplomat and cabinet minister of the Electorate of Saxony, who was later disgraced and imprisoned, and killed himself.
Biography
Karl Heinrich was born in Dresden into the distinguished noble family von Hoym, the youngest son of Baron Ludwig Gebhard von Hoym and brother of Count Adolph Magnus von Hoym, and was baptised on 19 June 1694 in the chapel of the Residenz at Dresden.
He was born Freiherr ("Baron") von Hoym, and on 18 July 1711 together with his three brothers[2] was raised to the rank of Count of the Empire (Reichsgraf).
He set out on the
In 1729, Hoym returned to Saxony, where
However, his Frenchified behaviour made him many powerful enemies. Moreover, as the champion of an alliance of Saxony with France and the sea powers against the Holy Roman Empire he attracted the hostile attention of the cabinets of Berlin and Vienna, abetted by the ambitious chamberlain
Among his confiscated possessions was one of the few known surviving copies of the Theophrastus redivivus, a 17th-century anti-religious text, which was then given to the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, where it remains today. However, the book was apparently first bought by Claude Sallier, who then donated it to the national library in 1741; however, his name does not appear on the list of individuals who bought the book in the initial August 1738 auction of von Hoym's belongings, throwing a shadow of doubt as to if von Hoym actually owned the copy or whether it was donated in his name to discredit him.[3]
He committed suicide in his cell in Königstein Fortress (Festung Königstein) on 22 April 1736.
Notes and references
- ^ formerly also spelt Carl
- ^ Adolph Magnus, Carl Siegfried and Ludwig Gerhard
- ^ Anonymous (1600s). Theophrastus redivivus. Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Sources and external links
- Virginie Spenlé: Karl Heinrich von Hoym, ambassadeur de Saxe à Paris et amateur d'art, in: Dresde ou le rêve des Princes. La Galerie de peintures au XVIIIe siècle, Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux 2001, pp. 143–148
- "Karl Heinrich von Hoym", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 13, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1881, p. 219
- Sächsische Biografie online: Karl Heinrich von Hoym (in German)