Anton Corfiz Ulfeldt

Corfitz Anton Ulfeldt withe 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 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 Johann Christoph von Bartenstein, 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 Maria Anna von Virmont, 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 Maria Elisabeth von Lobkowitz (1726-1786), daughter of Prince Philipp von Lobkowitz (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 Georg Christian von Waldstein (1743-1791)
• Maria Wilhelmine (May 13, 1744 - May 8, 1800), married Count Josef von Thun-Hohenstein (1734-1800)

Sources

• ADB
• BLKÖ
• Family tree