Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár
Ladislaus Freiherr Hengelmüller von Hengervár | |
---|---|
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United States | |
In office 11 October 1894 – 7 January 1913 | |
Preceded by | Ernst Ritter Schmit von Tavera |
Succeeded by | Konstantin Dumba |
Personal details | |
Born | Pest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary) | 2 May 1845
Died | 22 April 1917 Abbazia, Austria-Hungary (now Croatia) | (aged 71)
Spouse(s) | Marie, née Gräfin Dunin-Borkowska (1859–?) |
Freiherr Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár (
Life
Born in Pest (now Budapest) on 2 May 1845 into an ethnic German family in Hungary.[1] His father Michael Hengelmüller was an Austrian court official. On 3 April 1893, he married Marie née Countess Dunin-Borkowska (1859–?), a widow and daughter of Count Alfred Dunin-Borkowski (1834–1895), in Dresden.[2]
After having served in the Chancellery of the Royal Hungarian Court and the Ministry of Finance, Hengelmüller began his diplomatic career. In 1868, he was appointed as Chancellor of the General consulate for
In 1887, Hengelmüller was appointed to serve as
Described as clever and experienced, Hengelmüller von Hengervár became greatly popular and well-respected during his long period of service in Washington D.C.[6]
In late 1902, he was informed that his legation would be upgraded to an embassy and that he would be promoted to the rank of ambassador.
In the autumn of 1906, his name was one of those advanced as a successor to Count Goluchowski as Imperial Foreign Minister, but the post eventually went to an old friend
Baron Hengelmüller von Hengervár was present on 10 January 1908 at the
On 23 February 1910, he became dean of the diplomatic corps in Washington D.C.[14]
When former President Roosevelt, with whom he had become a good friend, visited Austria-Hungary in 1910, he was one of the hosts[15] and Roosevelt also wrote the preface of the Baron's book on Prince Rákóczi, a Hungarian leader of an uprising against the Habsburgs in the eighteenth century, in 1913. It could be noted though that the Baron's own Hungarian skills were considered rather weak although he was considered an eminent linguist in diplomatic circles.[16]
On a more anecdotal level, Baron Hengelmüller von Hengervár was subject to a quote by the then President
In the autumn of 1912, he formally announced his retirement and that he would return to Vienna after close to twenty years in Washington D.C.[18] His long years of service, along with the fact that his friend Count Lexa von Aehrenthal had died earlier that year, likely contributed to this end.[19] He was succeeded as US Ambassador by Konstantin Dumba, who held the post until 1915 when he was declared persona non grata and expelled from the country by President Wilson.
Baron Hengelmüller von Hengelvár, who had been appointed a lifetime member of the Hungarian House of Magnates in 1910, died on 22 April 1917 at Abbazia (now Opatija), one of the leading health resorts of the Habsburg Empire located in Istria.
His summer residence in Maine from his years in the United States today[vague] operates as a bed and breakfast.[20]
Notes
Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as Baron). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.
Works
- Franz Rákóczi und sein Kampf für Ungarns Freiheit 1703-1711, Berlin, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1913 (translation as Hungary's fight for national existence, or the history of the great uprising led by Francis Rakoczi II. 1703-1711, London, Macmillan, 1913).
- Austria-Hungary and the War (together with Albert Graf Apponyi von Nagy-Appony, Konstantin Dumba and Alexander Nuber von Pereked), New York, Austro-Hungarian Consulate-general, 1915.
References
- ^ William D. Godsey, Aristocratic Redoubt: The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War, West Lafayette, Purdue University Press, 1999, p. 155.
- ^ Dunin-Borkowski
- ^ 'Hengelmüller von Hengervár Ladislaus Baron', Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, vol. 2, Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1957, p. 272.
- ^ 'Von Hengemuller, ex-diplomat, dead', New York Times, 27 April 1917.
- ^ 'The new dean of the diplomatic corps at Washington', New York Times, 26 June 1910.
- ^ 'The new dean of the diplomatic corps at Washington', op. cit..
- ^ 'Austria's envoy promoted', New York Times, 9 December 1902.
- ^ 'An Austrian ambassador', New York Times, 13 June 1896.
- ^ 'New ambassador received', New York Times, 28 December 1902.
- ^ 'The new dean of the diplomatic corps at Washington', op. cit..
- ^ Godsey, op. cit., p. 20.
- ^ Knights of Malta Archived 2005-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Arbitration Convention between the United States and Austria-Hungary Archived 2006-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Diplomatic Representation for Republic of Austria
- ^ See for example 'Big Vienna programme', New York Times, 14 April 1910; Roosevelt's day in Vienna', op. cit., 16 April 1910; 'Roosevelt royally welcomed in Vienna', op. cit., 16 April 1910; 'Dinner with the Emperor', op. cit., 17 April 1910; 'A busy day in Budapest', op. cit., 19 April 1910.
- ^ Godsey, op. cit., p. 144.
- ^ William Howard Taft humour Archived 2006-01-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 'Austrian envoy quitting', New York Times, 24 August 1912.
- ^ 'Hengelmueller may resign', New York Times, 21 December 1910.
- ^ Castle Maine Inn