Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz
| Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg |
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Portrait by Jean-Étienne Liotard (1762), wearing the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece
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| State Chancellor of the Habsburg Monarchy | |
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In office 13 May 1753 – 19 August 1792 |
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| Monarch |
Maria Theresa (1753–1780) Joseph II (1780–1790) Leopold II (1790–1792) Francis II (1792) |
| Preceded by | Count Anton Corfiz Ulfeldt |
| Succeeded by | Philipp von Cobenzl |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 February 1711 Vienna, Austria, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 27 June 1794 (aged 83) Vienna, Austria |
Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (German: Wenzel Anton Fürst von Kaunitz-Rietberg, Czech: Václav Antonín z Kounic a Rietbergu; 2 February 1711 – 27 June 1794) was an Austrian and Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg Monarchy. A proponent of enlightened absolutism, he held the office of State Chancellor for about four decades and was responsible for the foreign policies during the reigns of Maria Theresa, Joseph II, and Leopold II. In 1764, he was elevated to the noble rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichfürst).
Kaunitz was born in Vienna, Austria, one of 19 children of Maximilian Ulrich, third Count of Kaunitz (1679–1746), and his consort Marie Ernestine, née Countess of East Frisia and Rietberg (1687–1758), an heiress of the Cirksena dynasty. The Kaunitz family (Kounicové) belonged to the old Czech nobility and, like the related Martinic dynasty, derived its lineage from the medieval Vršovci clan in the Kingdom of Bohemia. First mentioned in the 14th century, they originally lived in the Silesian duchy of Troppau, but in 1509, they moved to Slavkov (Austerlitz) Castle near Brno.
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