Anton Corfiz Graf von Uhlfeld

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Corfitz Anton Ulfeldt with the Order of the Golden Fleece

Anton Corfiz Ulfeldt (Brașov, June 15, 1699 - Vienna, December 31, 1769) was an Austrian politician and diplomat of Danish descent.

Biography[]

His parents were Anna Maria Sinzendorf and Leo Graf Ulfeldt, who came from a Danish noble family. After his grandfather, Corfitz Ulfeldt, was sentenced to death for high treason in Denmark, his father Count Leo Ulfeldt had fled to Austria, where he joined the Imperial Army and became a Field Marshal.

Anton Corfiz Ulfeldt also initially embarked on a military career, but was transferred to the Reichshofrat in 1724. From 1738 he was ambassador to The Hague and Constantinople. In 1742, at the instigation of , he became State Chancellor and responsible for Austria's foreign policy. He held this post until 1753, when Wenzel Anton Kaunitz became his successor. As foreign minister, Ulfeldt had almost no influence, Bartenstein was the one who directed Austria's course.

On January 5, 1744 he was accepted into the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Marriage and offspring[]

In his first marriage, Ulfeldt was married to Countess Maria Anna von Virmont (1710-1731), heir of Count Damian Hugo von Virmont zu Neersen, but she died after a short marriage on December 19, 1731 without children.

In his second marriage on April 16, 1743, he married Princess Maria Elisabeth von Lobkowicz (1726-1786), daughter of Prince Philipp von Lobkowicz (died 1737).
The couple had a son, Johann Baptist, who died early, and two daughters:

  • Maria Elisabeth (September 19, 1747 - January 27, 1791), married in 1765 Count Georg Christian von Waldstein-Wartenberg (1743-1791). She is an ancestor of several European monarchs through her granddaughter Princess Maria Antonia Koháry.
  • Maria Wilhelmine (May 13, 1744 - May 8, 1800), married Count Josef von Thun-Hohenstein (1734-1800), known for her patronage of Mozart and Beethoven.

Sources[]

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