Andreas Eberhard von Budberg

Freiherr Andreas Eberhard von Budberg
Andreas Eberhard von Budberg
Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire
In office 1806–1807
Preceded by	Adam Jerzy Czartoryski
Succeeded by	Nikolay Rumyantsev
Chairman of the Committee of Ministers
In office 1806–1807
Preceded by	Adam Jerzy Czartoryski
Succeeded by	Nikolay Rumyantsev
Personal details
Born	10 August 1750 [O.S. {{{3}}}] Magnushof, Mangaļi Parish, Livonian Governorate, Russian Empire (Now part of Riga, Latvia)
Died	1 September 1812(1812-09-01) (aged 62) St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Nationality	Baltic German
Occupation	Diplomat, Foreign Minister, Officer

Andreas Eberhard Freiherr von Budberg-Bönninghausen (Russian: Андрей Яковлевич Будберг; tr. Andrey Yakovlevich Budberg) (10 August 1750 – 1 September 1812) was a Baltic German diplomat who served as Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire in 1806–07.

Biography

By birth, member of an old Baltic German noble House of Budberg, he was the son of Jacob von Budberg-Bönninghausen (d. 1759) and his wife, Marie Elisabeth von Below (1725-1782). His ancestors moved to Livonia in the 16th century from Westphalia. Budberg was born in Magnushof (now Mangaļmuiža Manor in Trīsciems, Riga) and entered military service in 1759. He participated in the Russo-Turkish war 1768–1774. In 1783 Budberg was promoted to podpolkovnik. The same year Riga governor-general George Browne recommended Budberg to the Empress Catherine II as a diplomat. In fact, Budberg had been serving in the army as an infantry officer and had no diplomatic experience. Brown did it because he was a good friend of Budberg's parents.

In 1784 he was appointed a tutor to Catherine's grandson Alexander I and held this position until 1795. In 1793 Budberg was sent to Stockholm to arrange marriage of Catherine's granddaughter Alexandra Pavlovna and young king of Sweden Gustav IV Adolf. Initially consent was given, but later Gustav IV Adolf renounced the betrothal. Two years later Budberg was appointed ambassador in Sweden. In 1799 Catherine II died and Paul I succeeded her. Paul I disliked Budberg and soon he was forced to resign.

In 1804 Alexander I appointed him to the State Council. Budberg was known for his distrust of Napoleon and in 1806 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, in 1807 when the treaties of Tilsit were signed, he resigned and retired from politics.

Personal life

He was married to Anna Helene Charlotte von Meck (1762-1799), daughter of Johann Gotthard von Meck (1731-1779) and his wife, Dorothea Elisabeth von Campenhausen (b. 1741). They had three daughters:

• Baroness Martha von Budberg-Bönninghausen (1783-1787)
• Baroness Katharina von Budberg-Bönninghausen (1785-1842)
• Baroness Helene Julie von Budberg-Bönninghausen (1787-1856); married her cousin, Baron Theodor Otto von Budberg-Bönninghausen (1779–1840). They were parents of:
  • Baron Andrey Fedorovich von Budberg, Russian diplomat

External links

• (in German) Genealogisches Handbuch der baltischen Ritterschaften, Teil 1, 2: Livland, Lfg. 9-15, Görlitz 1929, pp.648