The activity of Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire, with a focus on his St. Petersburg salon

The aim of the paper is to analyse the activities of the Imperial Envoy Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire during the first half of the nineteenth century, with a special emphasis on his salon in St. Petersburg. This salon, which Ficquelmont ran in the years 1829–1840 with his...

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Main Author: Anežka Kotoučová
Format: Article
Language:ces
Published: University of Pardubice 2022-12-01
Series:Theatrum Historiae
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Online Access:https://theatrum.upce.cz/index.php/theatrum/article/view/2409
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author Anežka Kotoučová
author_facet Anežka Kotoučová
author_sort Anežka Kotoučová
collection DOAJ
description The aim of the paper is to analyse the activities of the Imperial Envoy Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire during the first half of the nineteenth century, with a special emphasis on his salon in St. Petersburg. This salon, which Ficquelmont ran in the years 1829–1840 with his Russian wife Darya Fyodorovna (Dolly), was located in the building of the Austrian Embassy in St. Petersburg and was the centre of not only cultural but also diplomatic life in the Russian capital. Interestingly, the cultural and artistic level was combined with the diplomatic and political level, which testifies to Ficquelmont as a host with a truly broad intellectual scope. The paper examines how these levels interacted, while pointing out that Ficquelmont made extensive use of his privileges as an influential diplomat and one who was loved at the court to help guests in his salon circumvent some Russian obstructions, including the severe censorship of that time. Ficquelmont’s most famous guest was the poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, who gained inspiration from the Austrian Embassy building for one of his famous works. In addition, Ficquelmont has connections with the Czech lands, as he and his wife are buried in Teplice, where his daughter married. Overall, the aim is to introduce Count Ficquelmont as an educated and cultured diplomat who naturally ran one of the most influential Russian salons of the first half of the nineteenth century. Within the source base, diplomatic reports (Ficquelmont sought greater rapprochement of the Austrian Empire with the Russian Empire) as well as various ego-documents, including the extensive diary of Darya Fyodorovna von Ficquelmont, and, marginally, contemporary Russian fiction are used equally. It was the salons that provided a large number of stimuli for the formation of Russian culture, and it was here that important socio-cultural topics of the time were discussed. It can thus be stated that the salons stood at the very birth and beginnings of Russian public opinion.
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spelling doaj-art-946af7de51af49f2bb464ffa059a0a382025-01-24T18:28:04ZcesUniversity of PardubiceTheatrum Historiae1802-25022571-06212022-12-013010.46585/th.2022.30.01The activity of Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire, with a focus on his St. Petersburg salonAnežka Kotoučová0Charles University The aim of the paper is to analyse the activities of the Imperial Envoy Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire during the first half of the nineteenth century, with a special emphasis on his salon in St. Petersburg. This salon, which Ficquelmont ran in the years 1829–1840 with his Russian wife Darya Fyodorovna (Dolly), was located in the building of the Austrian Embassy in St. Petersburg and was the centre of not only cultural but also diplomatic life in the Russian capital. Interestingly, the cultural and artistic level was combined with the diplomatic and political level, which testifies to Ficquelmont as a host with a truly broad intellectual scope. The paper examines how these levels interacted, while pointing out that Ficquelmont made extensive use of his privileges as an influential diplomat and one who was loved at the court to help guests in his salon circumvent some Russian obstructions, including the severe censorship of that time. Ficquelmont’s most famous guest was the poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, who gained inspiration from the Austrian Embassy building for one of his famous works. In addition, Ficquelmont has connections with the Czech lands, as he and his wife are buried in Teplice, where his daughter married. Overall, the aim is to introduce Count Ficquelmont as an educated and cultured diplomat who naturally ran one of the most influential Russian salons of the first half of the nineteenth century. Within the source base, diplomatic reports (Ficquelmont sought greater rapprochement of the Austrian Empire with the Russian Empire) as well as various ego-documents, including the extensive diary of Darya Fyodorovna von Ficquelmont, and, marginally, contemporary Russian fiction are used equally. It was the salons that provided a large number of stimuli for the formation of Russian culture, and it was here that important socio-cultural topics of the time were discussed. It can thus be stated that the salons stood at the very birth and beginnings of Russian public opinion. https://theatrum.upce.cz/index.php/theatrum/article/view/2409SalonRussian EmpireCount FicquelmontAustrina EmbassyDiplomacy
spellingShingle Anežka Kotoučová
The activity of Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire, with a focus on his St. Petersburg salon
Theatrum Historiae
Salon
Russian Empire
Count Ficquelmont
Austrina Embassy
Diplomacy
title The activity of Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire, with a focus on his St. Petersburg salon
title_full The activity of Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire, with a focus on his St. Petersburg salon
title_fullStr The activity of Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire, with a focus on his St. Petersburg salon
title_full_unstemmed The activity of Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire, with a focus on his St. Petersburg salon
title_short The activity of Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont in the Russian Empire, with a focus on his St. Petersburg salon
title_sort activity of count karl ludwig von ficquelmont in the russian empire with a focus on his st petersburg salon
topic Salon
Russian Empire
Count Ficquelmont
Austrina Embassy
Diplomacy
url https://theatrum.upce.cz/index.php/theatrum/article/view/2409
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