Hugo II Logothetti
Encyclopedia
Hugo Count Logothetti was an Austrian-Hungarian diplomat and the last emissary of the Habsburg monarchy in Teheran.
he became Austrian citizen. His issue played an important role in the defence of this most eastern Austrian province and were counted among the honourables of its capital Czernowitz (nowadays: Chernivtsi
, Чернівці, Ukraine).
Hugo’s grandfather Hugo I Count Logothetti (1801–1861) bought after his marriage with Pauline Baroness Bartenstein, a direct offspring of the chancellor of the Empress Maria-Theresia Johann Christoph von Bartenstein, in 1830 the manors Bilovice and Březolupy near the South Moravian town of Uherské Hradiště. He was known as Maecenas of the Czech painter Josef Mánes(1820–1871) to whom he commissioned a portrait of Veruna Čudová. This painting is nowadays the most known genre piece of Mánes.
Hugo II was born 2 October 1852 in Klausenburg (the present Cluj-Napoca in Rumania) where his father Vladimir Count Logothetti
(1822–1892) served as army officer. Because his mother descended from high Transylvanian nobility (Nemes de Hidveg) with a palace and houses in Klausenburg Hugo was baptized in the Roman Catholic cathedral of Klausenburg. In 1858 the family returned to Bilovice.
.
Logothetti’s further career was typical for a gifted diplomat: consul-elève in Constantinople
1877-1880, consul-elève in Alexandria (Egypt) 1880-1882, deputy consul in Alexandria in 1882, in the same year consul in Port Said. In 1883 he became emissary of Austria-Hungary in the compensation commission in Alexandria. Since September 1883 he was attaché in Constantinopel, where he became 1886 embassy secretary and became acquainted with the Austrian-Hungarian diplomat Julius baron Zwiedinek von Südenhorst (1833–1918), his later father-in-law.
On 17 July 1886 Logothetti married Frieda Barbara Baroness Zwiedinek von Südenhorst (1866–1945) in the church St. Maria Draperis in European quarter of Constantinopel, Pera. In 1889 Logothetti was named judge of first instance in the International Tribunal in Alexandria. He held this function till 1897 when he became consul-general of Austria-Hungary in Rumania at Galati where he was at the same time Austrian-Hungarian emissary in the European Danube Commission. From 1899 till 1906 he was consul-general in Barcelona, 1906-1907 consul in Milan, 1907-1911 consul in Hamburg, 1911-1912 consul-general in Tunis.
Because of growing tenses on the Balkan and in the Near East it was necessary to occupy the legation in Persia with an experienced diplomat with good knowledge of land and language. The new Austrian-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Leopold Berchtold (1863–1942) named Logothetti on 12 May 1912 as k. u. k. extraordinary plenipotentiary minister and envoy in Teheran. At this occasion the official portrait was painted. Logothetti was through his grandmother Karolina Countess Berchtold a relative of the minister.
Great-Britain and Russia divided in 1906 Persia in spheres of influence – the Russians were in northern Persia, the British in southeast Persia bounded by British India. In the west the Ottoman Empire tried to get some influence in Persia. In a secret treaty (1907) Great-Britain and Russia tried to give to this situation an official status under international law. The Persians reacted, however, with a constitutional revolution (March/April 1912) that was crushed with Russian and British military aid. Nevertheless the new Persian government tried to stay at least officially neutral in the First World War.
On 4 November 1912 Logothetti presented his credentials to the Shah and began in his function in Teheran. He had the task to defend Persian neutrality against all efforts of Russia and Great-Britain to get Persia at their side, as well to defend Austrian-Hungarian interests in the Near East.
When the First World War broke out in 1914 Logothetti was on leave in Moravia. He let his family at home and returned alone to Teheran where he was arrested – against all diplomatic customs – by the Russians who deprived him of all money and sent him through Sweden back to Europe. On 27 April 1915 Logothetti returned to Teheran. After a failed putsch initiated by the German embassy (August 1915) and a German attempt to set up in Persia and Afghanistan a front against British India the situation in Persia became for diplomats of the Central Powers quite unsure. Most governments called their envoys back and since 1916 Logothetti was practically the only Central diplomat in function in Persia. He survived several assaults on his person (1916, 1917) nearly unharmed.
In January 1918 the new Persian government tried to restore effectively Persian neutrality. After the Russian revolution of 1917 and the departure of Russian troops from northern Persia Logothetti tried to free all prisoners of war of Austrian-Hungarian origin in Russian-Turkoman concentration camps in order to get them to Persia and through Constantinople back to Europe. These efforts partly succeeded when Logothetti suddenly died on 3 August 1918 in a mysterious way (presumably he died of arsenic poisoning). He was buried in the French mission church.
Descent
Hugo II Count Logothetti originated from an old Byzantine lineage dating its origin back to the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I Logothetes (reigning 802-811) that settled after the fall of Constantinople (1453) on the Ionian island of Zante (Zakynthos). In the 18th century a descendant, the officer of the Venetian Republic Giacomo (James) Conte Logothetti (1741–1802) went to the principality of Moldavia. After the annexation of the BukovinaBukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
he became Austrian citizen. His issue played an important role in the defence of this most eastern Austrian province and were counted among the honourables of its capital Czernowitz (nowadays: Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...
, Чернівці, Ukraine).
Hugo’s grandfather Hugo I Count Logothetti (1801–1861) bought after his marriage with Pauline Baroness Bartenstein, a direct offspring of the chancellor of the Empress Maria-Theresia Johann Christoph von Bartenstein, in 1830 the manors Bilovice and Březolupy near the South Moravian town of Uherské Hradiště. He was known as Maecenas of the Czech painter Josef Mánes(1820–1871) to whom he commissioned a portrait of Veruna Čudová. This painting is nowadays the most known genre piece of Mánes.
Hugo II was born 2 October 1852 in Klausenburg (the present Cluj-Napoca in Rumania) where his father Vladimir Count Logothetti
Vladimir Logothetti
Vladimir Emanuel Alexander Count Logothetti was an Austrian-Hungarian Officer, politician and founder of the first voluntary fire brigade in Moravia.- Descent :Logothetti originated from an old Byzantine lineage dating its origin back to the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus...
(1822–1892) served as army officer. Because his mother descended from high Transylvanian nobility (Nemes de Hidveg) with a palace and houses in Klausenburg Hugo was baptized in the Roman Catholic cathedral of Klausenburg. In 1858 the family returned to Bilovice.
Career
After the secondary school in Uherské Hradiště, Hugo II entered the 54th Regiment of the Line in Olomouc as a volunteer. He had, however, to quit service for the reason of fable health in 1871. He went then to Vienna to study (1872–1877) at the Orientalian Academy, founded by the Empress Maria Theresia. This academy was the forerunner of the present Diplomatic Academy. Logothetti had an aptitude for languages and learned Arabic, Persian and Turkish. His first foreign post after his study was in Constantinopel, then one of the most important foreign missions of Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
.
Logothetti’s further career was typical for a gifted diplomat: consul-elève in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
1877-1880, consul-elève in Alexandria (Egypt) 1880-1882, deputy consul in Alexandria in 1882, in the same year consul in Port Said. In 1883 he became emissary of Austria-Hungary in the compensation commission in Alexandria. Since September 1883 he was attaché in Constantinopel, where he became 1886 embassy secretary and became acquainted with the Austrian-Hungarian diplomat Julius baron Zwiedinek von Südenhorst (1833–1918), his later father-in-law.
On 17 July 1886 Logothetti married Frieda Barbara Baroness Zwiedinek von Südenhorst (1866–1945) in the church St. Maria Draperis in European quarter of Constantinopel, Pera. In 1889 Logothetti was named judge of first instance in the International Tribunal in Alexandria. He held this function till 1897 when he became consul-general of Austria-Hungary in Rumania at Galati where he was at the same time Austrian-Hungarian emissary in the European Danube Commission. From 1899 till 1906 he was consul-general in Barcelona, 1906-1907 consul in Milan, 1907-1911 consul in Hamburg, 1911-1912 consul-general in Tunis.
Because of growing tenses on the Balkan and in the Near East it was necessary to occupy the legation in Persia with an experienced diplomat with good knowledge of land and language. The new Austrian-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Leopold Berchtold (1863–1942) named Logothetti on 12 May 1912 as k. u. k. extraordinary plenipotentiary minister and envoy in Teheran. At this occasion the official portrait was painted. Logothetti was through his grandmother Karolina Countess Berchtold a relative of the minister.
Great-Britain and Russia divided in 1906 Persia in spheres of influence – the Russians were in northern Persia, the British in southeast Persia bounded by British India. In the west the Ottoman Empire tried to get some influence in Persia. In a secret treaty (1907) Great-Britain and Russia tried to give to this situation an official status under international law. The Persians reacted, however, with a constitutional revolution (March/April 1912) that was crushed with Russian and British military aid. Nevertheless the new Persian government tried to stay at least officially neutral in the First World War.
On 4 November 1912 Logothetti presented his credentials to the Shah and began in his function in Teheran. He had the task to defend Persian neutrality against all efforts of Russia and Great-Britain to get Persia at their side, as well to defend Austrian-Hungarian interests in the Near East.
When the First World War broke out in 1914 Logothetti was on leave in Moravia. He let his family at home and returned alone to Teheran where he was arrested – against all diplomatic customs – by the Russians who deprived him of all money and sent him through Sweden back to Europe. On 27 April 1915 Logothetti returned to Teheran. After a failed putsch initiated by the German embassy (August 1915) and a German attempt to set up in Persia and Afghanistan a front against British India the situation in Persia became for diplomats of the Central Powers quite unsure. Most governments called their envoys back and since 1916 Logothetti was practically the only Central diplomat in function in Persia. He survived several assaults on his person (1916, 1917) nearly unharmed.
In January 1918 the new Persian government tried to restore effectively Persian neutrality. After the Russian revolution of 1917 and the departure of Russian troops from northern Persia Logothetti tried to free all prisoners of war of Austrian-Hungarian origin in Russian-Turkoman concentration camps in order to get them to Persia and through Constantinople back to Europe. These efforts partly succeeded when Logothetti suddenly died on 3 August 1918 in a mysterious way (presumably he died of arsenic poisoning). He was buried in the French mission church.
Family
Logothetti had with his spouse Frieda (died 1945) 10 children of whom three died young. The eldest daughters Marie-Rose Countess Logothetti (1888–1976) and Caroline (Lola) Countess Logothetti (1891–1978) married diplomats – Marie-Rose with the Italian envoy Giulio Cesare Cavagliere Montagna (1874–1954), Lola with the Dutch consul Willem-Bernard Engelbrecht (1881–1955). Hermine (Meta) married with the Hungarian judge Géza de Ertsey and the youngest daughter Carmen with the Moravian engineer Lothar Schmid. The eldest son Felix served as Austrian-Hungarian army officer (rittmaster) and married Stella Countess Barbo-Waxenstein. In 1942 Felix, his wife and his son Deodat were murdered during a fight between Communist Jugoslavian partisans with Italian occupation troops on the hereditary castle of the family Barbo, Watzenberg Manor (Castello Dob) in present Slovenia. The second son Hugo III Count Logothetti (1901–1975) stayed till 1945 on the Moravian family estate Bilovice as did also the youngest Emanuel (1907–1990) who was up to 1938 civil servant of the Czechoslovak Republic and after 1945 Secretary of State of Bavaria for refugee aid.Orders and honours
Logothetti obtained during his life a big number of honours. according to the documents in the family records he was honoured with the following orders and honours:- Knight's Cross of the Order of Franz JosephOrder of Franz JosephThe Imperial Austrian Franz Joseph Order was founded by the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on December 2, 1849 on the first anniversary of his assumption of the Imperial Crown...
, Austria-Hungary - 1882 - Osminieh OrderOsminieh OrderThe Order of Osmanieh, Order of Osmanie, Order of Osmania was a military decoration of the Ottoman Empire, created in January 1862 by Sultan Abdulaziz. With the obsolescence of the Nichan Iftikhar , this became the second highest order in the Empire, ranking below the High Order of Honour...
, Ottoman Empire - 1883 - Kaiserlich und königlich Kämmerer (Imperial and Royal Chamberlain), Austria-Hungary - 1895
- Cavagliere dell' Ordine della Corona d'Italia, Italy - 1899
- Order of the Medjidie, Ottoman Empire - 1884
- Order of the Medjidie, 1st. Class with Star, Ottoman Empire - 1897
- Imperial Order of the Iron CrownOrder of the Iron CrownThe Imperial Order of the Iron Crown was established June 5, 1805 by Napoleon Bonaparte . It took its name from the ancient Iron Crown of Lombardy, a medieval jewel with an iron ring, forged from what was supposed to be a nail from the True Cross as a band on the inside. This crown also gave its...
, Austria-Hungary - 1902 - Commander with Star of the Royal Order of Elisabeth the Catholic, Spain - 1905
- Commander of the Royal and Distinguished Order of Charles III, Spain - 1906
- 1st Class of the Imperial Austrian Order of LeopoldOrder of Leopold (Austria)The Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold was founded by Franz I of Austria on 8 January 1808. The order's statutes stipulated only three grades: Grand Cross, Commander and Knight. During the war, in common with the other Austro-Hungarian decorations Crossed Swords were instituted to reward bravery in...
, Austria-Hungary - 1908 - Grand Cordon of the Order of Nichan-Istikhar, Tunisia - 1912/1330
- Military Cross for Civil Merit, 1st. Class, Austria-Hungary - 1918, post mortem
Literature
- Family archive Logothetti 1734-1945, now in the Moravský zemský archiv, Brno, fund G 195
- Arthur Breycha-Vauthier, Logothetti Hugo Graf, in: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950 V (1972), p. 298. ISBN 978-3-7001-3213-4. http://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl/oebl_L/Logothetti_Hugo_1852_1918.xml
- Wilken Engelbrecht, Rod Logothettiů, in: Genealogické a heraldické informace III (1998), p. 17-27. ISSN 0862-8963.
- Peter Jung, Ein unbekannter Krieg 1914-1916. Das k. u. k. Gesandtschaftsdetachement Teheran. Verlagsbuchhandlung Stöhr, Wien 1997 (Österreichische Militärgeschichte, Folge 5).
- Pavel Krystýn. Bílovičtí páni. Logothettiové. In. Ibid., Bílovice 1256-2006. Obecní úřad Bílovice / Vydavatelství Petr Brázda, Bílovice/Břeclav 2006, p. 27-34. ISBN 80-903762-7-4.
- Vladimír Krystýn, Logothettiové z Bílovic. In: Slovácko XL (1998), p. 221-234. ISBN 80-86185-04-4.
- Constanze Gfn. Logothetti, Das neutrale Persien zwischen Entente und Mittelmächten. Geostrategische Lage damals und heute. Unpublished master thesis Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München 2008.