Scheda Pubblicazione

Dettaglio

• Autore/i
  Vidic, F.
• Titolo pubblicazione
  «Uno degli uomini conversevoli più alla moda». La formazione dell’ambasciatore Louis Cobenzl
• Curatore/i
  Vidic, F., Stasi, A.
• Titolo del volume in cui è pubblicata
  I Cobenzl. Una famiglia europea tra politica, arte e diplomazia (1508-1823)
• Istituzione coinvolta nella pubblicazione
  Archivio di Stato di Gorizia
• Casa editrice
  Lithos
• Luogo pubblicazione
  Roma
• Da pagina
  953
• A pagina
  971
• Abstract
  Ludovico or Louis (Ludwig) Cobenzl was born in Brussels in 1753. His father Charles, minister plenipotentiary of the Austrian Netherlands, sent him at a very young age at the diplomatic school in Strasbourg, founded by Jean-Daniel Schoepflin, where the great political minds of the late 18th century – Talleyrand and Metternich – were trained. Schoepflin assiduously informed his father about Louis’s progress, until Charles Cobenzl died prematurely in 1770. The young man had to leave Strasbourg and was taken under the tutelage of his cousin Johann Philipp, forced to liquidate much of Charles’s estate to pay off the large debts he had left. Thanks to Philipp, Louis made a good marriage and entered the Austrian administration, where he understood that he was more inclined to foreign than to domestic policy. In 1775, at the age of 21, he became ambassador to Denmark and then to Prussia at the court of Frederick II’s. His big chance was to be his participation in the Teschen congress, but at the last minute an illness stopped him and he was replaced by his cousin. The emperor would have immediately consoled him with the posting of ambassador to Russia, where he remained for more than twenty years, marking an era. The diplomats of the time recognized Cobenzl as one of the most brilliant ambassadors of his time, a refined politician, and a brilliant “homme de monde”. However, his detractors did not forgive him a certain frivolity.
• Download