Georg Adam, Prince of Starhemberg
| Georg Adam von Starhemberg | |
|---|---|
Georg Adam von Starhemberg (1724–1807), Imperial ambassador
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| Born |
10 August 1724 London |
| Died |
19 April 1807 (aged 82) Vienna |
| Occupation | Austrian diplomat |
Johann Georg Adam Graf von Starhemberg, since 1765 Fürst von Starhemberg (prince of Starhemberg) (10 August 1724, London - 19 April 1807, Vienna) was an Austrian diplomat, minister, chief chamberlain and close confidant of Empress Maria Theresa
Georg Adam was born in London as the fifth son to the Imperial envoy Konrad Sigmund Graf von Starhemberg (1689–1727) and his wife Leopoldine, née Fürstin von Löwenstein. King George I became his godfather. He had two notable greatuncles. Gundaker Thomas von Starhemberg (1663–1745), a financial expert at the court in Vienna who played a key role in the education of Georg Adam and Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (1638–1701), the military governor of Vienna and leading figure in the Battle of Vienna and the subsequent Great Turkish War from 1683 to 1699.
In 1727, when Georg Adam was three years of age, he experienced the loss of his father who died at the age of just 38 years. Georg Adam received his education in Vienna conducted under the auspices of his mother and his greatuncle, Austrian minister of finance Gundaker Thomas von Starhemberg. Subsequently he did his Grand Tour; in the company of a mentor he visited a number of capitals and courts in Europe.
In 1742, at the age of 18, Count Georg Adam von Starhemberg joined Austrian civil service. In 1748, he was appointed 'Aulic Councillor of the Empire' (Reichshofrat) and became chamberlain (Kammerherr) of Archduke Joseph, the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa.
The following years he travelled as an envoy to Lisbon, Trieste, Madrid and Paris where he met Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz. Kaunitz was married to Maria Ernestine von Starhemberg (1717–1749), a granddaughter of Georg Adam's greatuncle and educator Gundaker Thomas Graf von Starhemberg. In 1754 Count Georg Adam was sent to Paris as Imperial envoy and stayed there for the next twelve years. Along with Kaunitz he paved the way for a rapprochement between the Habsburgian rulers and France after a long-standing history of conflict. He tried to influence the French king primarily by Louis' chief mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour. The first meeting between the Austrian envoy and the marquise for this purpose took place on 30 August 1755. In 1756 the Treaty of Versailles was concluded with his participation. In Paris, Starhemberg also successfully negotiated the marriage between the Habsburg Archduchess Maria Antonia and the Duke of Berry, the future king Louis XVI of France. In 1770 he accompanied the archduchess to the first encounter with her future husband.
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