Anton Saurma von der Jeltsch

Freiherr Johann Anton Saurma von der Jeltsch (27 March 1836 – 28 April 1900)[1] was a German aristocrat and diplomat.

Anton Saurma von der Jeltsch
German Ambassador to Italy
In office
1897–1899
MonarchWilhelm II
Preceded byBernhard von Bülow
Succeeded byKarl von Wedel
German Ambassador to the United States
In office
1893–1895
MonarchWilhelm II
Preceded byTheodor von Holleben (as Minister Plenipotentiary)
Succeeded byMax von Thielmann
Personal details
Born(1836-03-27)27 March 1836
Adelsdorf
Died28 April 1900(1900-04-28) (aged 64)
Brauchitschdorf
ParentsMargarete von Hatzfeld zu Wildenburg
Alma materUniversity of Bonn

Early life

Anton was born on 27 March 1836 in Adelsdorf, Germany (today part of south-western Poland). He was a son of Freiherr Johann Alexander Saurma von der Jeltsch-Lorzendorf (1804–1841) and the former Freifrau Marie Luise Antonie Anna Franziska von Frankenberg und Ludwigsdorf (1807–1876). His older brother was Johann Josef Arthur Saurma von der Jeltsch-Lorzendorf, who married Laura "Lory" Henckel von Donnersmarck (a daughter of Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck). His younger brother was the prominent numismatist Hugo von Saurma von der Jeltsch.[2]

His paternal grandparents were Freiherr Johann Anton Saurma von der Jeltsch and Aloysia Gräfin von Hoverden-Plencken. His maternal grandparents were Count Joseph von Frankenberg, Baron von Schellendorf, heir to Warthau and Countess Maria Theresia von Frankenberg (an supporter of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart).[2][3]

He studied law at the University of Bonn.[4]

Career

He entered the diplomatic service in 1850, eventually becoming attaché in Paris.[5] In 1866, he took part in the Austro-Prussian War as a Prussian army officer. After the war, he managed the business of various legations and in 1872 he became a legation councilor. In 1873, he was appointed embassy councilor in Constantinople and in 1875, he became German Consul-General in Belgrade,[6] followed by Consul-General and diplomatic agent to Egypt and based in Alexandria in 1879.[7]

In 1882, he became German Ambassador to the Kingdom of Romania in Bucharest and, in 1885, to the Kingdom of the Netherlands in The Hague.[7] In 1891, he became a Prussian envoy to the Kingdom of Württemberg in Stuttgart.[8] In 1893,[7] he became the first German Ambassador to the United States, replacing Minister Baron von Holleben, who took his old post in Stuttgart.[lower-alpha 1] Before taking his post in Washington, D.C., he traveled to New York City with Baron Clemens von Ketteler, the Counselor and First Secretary to the German Embassy, where they toured the city, visiting the New York Stock Exchange and the obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park, which he had seen while stationed in Egypt.[7] In Washington, the Ambassador resided at 1435 Massachusetts Avenue which was bought by the German government a few months before his arrival.[7] In November 1894, he was among the guests who dined with President Cleveland's Solicitor General Lawrence Maxwell Jr., including Secretary of State Walter Q. Gresham and Justice Stephen Johnson Field.[10] In 1895, he was replaced by Max von Thielmann.[11][12][13]

In 1895, he returned to Constantinople to serve as German Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.[14] In his report about the treatment of the Armenians,[15][16] Anton:[14]

"stressed how nonsensical he found both the demonstration and the demands of the Armenians, drew particular attention to the role of the police force. He wrote that the police did not only tolerate 'that the population was massacring the Armenians, but was cheering them on and took part itself in the slaughtering of already heavily wounded and tied-up Armenians.' He also described how "Armenians were then even 'raided and slaughtered' in their own homes."[14]

He was replaced in Constantinople by Baron Adolf Marschall von Bieberstein, the former German Minister for Foreign Affairs, in 1897.[17][18] From 1897 to 1899, he was the German Ambassador to Italy in Rome, where he replaced Bernhard von Bülow who succeeded von Bieberstein as the Emperor's Minister for Foreign Affairs. Saurma von der Jeltsch retired in 1899, shortly before his death in April 1900.[2]

Personal life

Anton was married to Margarete von Hatzfeldt zu Trachenberg (1850–1923), a daughter of Pauline de Castellane and Count Max von Hatzfeldt,[19] who spent ten years from 1849 to 1859 as the German Minister to France and who signed the Treaty of Paris in 1856 which ended the Crimean War.[20] After her father's death, her mother remarried to Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, duc de Valençay, 3rd duc de Talleyrand-Périgord.[21] Her elder sister, Hélène, was the wife of Georg von Kanitz (aide de camp to Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia).[22] Together, they were the parents of two children:[23]

  • Freiherr Maximilian Saurma von der Jeltsch (1873–1949), who married Anne Marie Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz.[23]
  • Freifrau Carmen Saurma von der Jeltsch (1875-1952), who was given a ball in Washington for her debut while her father was Ambassador.[lower-alpha 2][24] She later married Stanislaus Graf Hoyos, Freiherr zu Stichsenstein.[23]

Baron Von der Jeltsch died on 28 April 1900 in Brauchitschdorf.[1]

References
Notes
  1. In August 1897, Baron Theodor von Holleben returned to Washington as the German Ambassador to the United States, replacing Max von Thielmann, Baron Saurma's successor.[9]
  2. Among the guests at Baroness Carmen's debut at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. on 8 January 1895 were the English Ambassador Lord Pauncefort and Lady Pauncefote and the Misses Pauncefote, Hugh Gough and Lady Georgiana Gough (a daughter of the 4th Earl of Longford), Bax Ironsides, Cecil Spring Rice, Count Sierstorpff, Baron Uechtritz, Prince Iturbide, the Brazilian Minister and Mme. Mendonça, the Turkish Minister, the Spanish Minister Railie de Muruaga, and the Danish Minister Constantin Brun, the Italian Ambassador Saverio Fava and Baroness Fava, the Nicaraguan Minister and Mme. Guzman, the Netherlands Minister William Ferdinand Henry von Weckherlin, Belgian Minister Count G. de Lichtervelde, and Swedish Minister Johan Anton Wolff Grip, the Mexican Minister Matías Romero and Mme. Romero, Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Howland, Secretary Hilary A. Herbert and Miss Herbert, Mrs. Don Cameron and Miss Rachel Cameron, the Misses Patten, Dr. Tavel and Mr. Vogel of the Swiss legation, Count de Chambrun and M. Le Favre of the French Embassy, the Austrian Minister Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár and Baroness von Hengelmüller, Hobart and Rose Farwell Chatfield-Taylor, Senator Edward O. Wolcott and Mrs. Wolcott, Marquis Imperiali, Miss Biddle, Senator James McMillan and Mrs. and Miss McMillan, Mr. Waterbury, the Misses Boardman, Assistant Secretary of State Rockhill and Mrs. Rockhill, and Count Széchenyi.[24]
Sources
  1. Baron von der Jeltsch Dead. 1900. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  2. of), Melville Amadeus Henry Douglas Heddle de La Caillemotte de Massue de Ruvigny Ruvigny and Raineval (9th marquis (1914). The Titled Nobility of Europe: An International Peerage, Or "Who's Who", of the Sovereigns, Princes and Nobles of Europe. Harrison & Sons. p. 1312. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  3. Abert, Hermann (2007). W.A. Mozart. Yale University Press. p. 1508. ISBN 978-0-300-07223-5. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  4. Bettelheim, Anton (1903). Biographisches Jahrbuch und Deutscher Nekrolog (in German). Georg Reimer. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  5. Burke, Edmund (1901). The Annual Register. Rivingtons. p. 127. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  6. Bringmann, Tobias C. (2012). Handbuch der Diplomatie 1815-1963: Auswärtige Missionschefs in Deutschland und deutsche Missionschefs im Ausland von Metternich bis Adenauer (in German). Walter de Gruyter. p. 73. ISBN 978-3-11-095684-9. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  7. "DELIGHTED WITH NEW-YORK; GERMANY'S AMBASSADOR VISITS ITS BUSY STREETS. Baron von Saurma-Jeltsh's First Visit to the United States -- He Takes a Look at the Stock Exchange and Visits the Post Office -- Impressed by the Building's in Broadway -- Soon to Visit the World's Fair -- The Baron Thinks the Sherman Law Should Be Repealed". The New York Times. 25 August 1893. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  8. Röhl, John C. G. (2004). Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888-1900. Cambridge University Press. p. 958. ISBN 978-0-521-81920-6. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  9. "NEW GERMAN AMBASSADOR.; Dr. von Holleben, Prussian Minister at Stuttgart, to Represent His Country in Washington". The New York Times. 27 August 1897. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  10. "Dined with the Solicitor General". The New York Times. 1 December 1894. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  11. "GERMANY TO CHANGE AMBASSADORS; And Argentine Will Have a New Representative Temporarily". The New York Times. 27 March 1895. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  12. "VON THIELMAN, GERMAN AMBASSADOR; He Takes the Place Vacated by Baron von Saurma-Jelstch". The New York Times. 22 June 1895. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  13. "A SURPRISE FOR GERMANY; The Franco-Russian Loan to China Upsets Calculations. BERLIN FINANCIERS DISAPPOINTED Strenuous Efforts Will Be Made to Secure for Them a Large Share of the Main Indemnity Loan That China Must Negotiate". The New York Times. 10 June 1895. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  14. Ihrig, Stefan (2016). Justifying Genocide: Germany and the Armenians from Bismark to Hitler. Harvard University Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-674-91517-6. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  15. "GERMANY WARNS TURKEY; ATROCPTIES IN CRETE, IF CONTINUED, WILL LEAD TO TROUBLE. The Sultan Told that He May Lose the Good Will of the Powers--Demand for the Autonomy of Macedonia--The Sultan's III Health--A Woman Spendthrift--Prince Furstenberg's Illness--Another Scandal in Society. The Sultan's III Health. A Woman Spendthrift. Lenient to an Englishman. Foreigh Residents in Prussia". The New York Times. 15 June 1896. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  16. "ARMENIAN HOMES BURNED; Nearly 200 Towns and Villages Destroyed in Two Provinces. THOUSANDS OF PERSONS WERE SLAIN Figures on the Destructive Work of the Turks -- The Sultan Receives Two Foreign Ambassadors". The New York Times. 13 January 1896. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  17. "VON BIEBERSTEIN'S NEW POST.; The Sultan Assents to His Appointment to Succeed Baron Jeltsch". The New York Times. 20 October 1897. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  18. "VON BIEBERSTEIN SHELVED.; Will Go to Turkey as Ambassador The Sultan Feels the Compliment". The New York Times. 21 October 1897. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  19. Diplomat, A. Veteran (12 March 1911). "SOME EUROPEAN NOBLES THAT ARE ALMOST AMERICANS; The Family Histories of Prince Hermann Hatzfeldt and Baroness Stumm, Who Are Soon to Wed, Show Their Close Relation to This Country". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  20. Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der gräflichen Häuser (in German). Justus Perthes. 1906. p. 749. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  21. de), Dorothée Dino (duchesse (1910). Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino: (afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand Et de Sagan) 1841-1850. W. Heinemann. p. 372. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  22. Hatzfeldt, Paul Graf von (1905). The Hatzfeldt Letters: Letters of Count Paul Hatzfeldt to His Wife, Written from the Head-quarters of the King of Prussia, 1870-71. John Murray. p. 46. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  23. The Book of Kings: The Families. Quadrangle / New York Times Book Company. 1973. p. 766. ISBN 978-0-8129-0280-8. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  24. "BARONESS VON SAURMA'S DEBUT; Grand Ball at the German Ambassador's in Washington -- The President Dines with Mr. Gresham". The New York Times. 9 January 1895. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
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