Count Carl Lewenhaupt (19 March 1835 – 10 December 1906) was a Swedish diplomat and politician, who was

Minister for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

from 1889 to 1895.

Early life

Lewenhaupt was born on 19 March 1835 at

Herrevad Abbey Herrevad Abbey () was a Cistercian monastery near Ljungbyhed in Klippan Municipality, Scania, in the south of present-day Sweden, but formerly in Denmark until 1658. It is now a country house known as Herrevad Castle (). History Herrevad A ...

Klippan Municipality Klippan Municipality () is a municipality in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Klippan. The municipality was created in 1974 through the amalgamation of the market town Klippan (itself instituted in 1945) with ...

, Sweden, the son of major, count Gustaf Adolf Lewenhaupt and his wife Maria (née von Geijer). He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

in 1851 and devoted himself after passing '' kansliexamen'' in 1855 to the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

Career

Lewenhaupt became attaché in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1858 after first been serving as temporary office clerk at the Ministry for Civil Service Affairs in 1856 and as ''

valet de chambre ''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on ...

'' in 1857. He was acting second secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1859 and permanent in 1861. Lewenhaupt became legation secretary in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1863 and was appointed chamberlain the same year. In 1866 Lewenhaupt was appointed head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' political department and in 1870 of its trade and consular department. Lewenhaupt was appointed State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1873. In his position as envoy 1876-84 and acting consul general in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, he was accepted by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

governments as arbitrator in the dispute that arose between them because of the uprising in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. In 1884 Lewenhaupt was transferred as envoy to Paris, and on 12 October 1889, he was called to the

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. During this critical time, because of the tense Union international relations, Lewenhaupt proved keenly interested in coming to both countries reasonable settlement of the Union national contentious issues and on his initiative the

Swedish government The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and their cabinet ministers (). The Government is responsible for its actions ...

commented on 14 January 1893 for the wish, that the Foreign Minister also could under certain conditions be Norwegian. This in its time very controversial »Swedish offer» aroused much discontent among the Swedes, who kept the maintenance of Sweden's preferential rights in the Union, and received from that quarter on 1 June 1895 the notification that Lewenhaupt, as Foreign Minister, had been succeeded by Count

Ludvig Douglas Ludvig Vilhelm August Douglas, Count of Mühlhausen, Gondelsheim, Skenninge and Stjernorp, Lord of Langenstein and Stjernorp castles (24 November 1849 – 20 July 1916), was a conservative Swedish politician and official. He was a direct patrili ...

with great satisfaction. Lewenhaupt was in late 1895 appointed Swedish Envoy and Minister in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he served until October 1902. He took part in the ceremonial surrounding the death in early 1901 of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and the accession and

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

of her successor King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

Personal life

In 1874 he married

Chief Court Mistress Court Mistress (; ; ; ; ) or Chief Court Mistress (; ; ; ; ; ) is or was the title of the senior lady-in-waiting in the courts of Austria, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Imperial Russia, and the German princely and royal courts. Chief c ...

Edla Lovisa Carolina ''Augusta'' Wirsén, the daughter of major, count Carl Emil Wirsén and baroness Ebba Lovisa (née De Geer af Leufsta). He was the father of Gustaf Adolf (born 1875) and Erik Axel (born 1877–1914).

Death

Lewenhaupt died on 10 December 1906 in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

and was buried at ''Donationskyrkogården'' in

Awards and decorations

Lewenhaupt's awards: *Knight and Commander of the Orders of His Majesty the King (1891-12-01) *Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

(1883-11-30) *Grand Cross of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

(1890-12-01) *Grand Cross of the

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle () was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, o ...

*Grand Cross of the

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state. Establishment The establishment of the Orde ...

(1895-05-09) *Knight First Class of the

(1890-07-29) *Knight First Class of the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

(1875-08-11) *Knight Second Class of the

(1866-06-07) *First Class of the

Order of Osmanieh The Order of Osmanieh (, Modern ) was a civil and military decoration of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was created in January 1862 by Sultan Abdülaziz. With the obsolescence of the Nişan-i Iftikhar, this became the second highest order ...

(1892) *Knight of the

(1866-11-26) *Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(1889-10-29) *Commander First Class of the

(1876-03-14) *Commander of the

(1881-01-21) *Commander of the Order of Leopold (1872-12-19) *Commander Second Class of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

(1869-07-28)

References

External links

Article
at '' Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewenhaupt, Carl 1835 births 1906 deaths Swedish counts Ministers for foreign affairs of Sweden Ambassadors of Sweden to the United States Ambassadors of Sweden to France Ambassadors of Sweden to the United Kingdom People from Klippan Municipality Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star