Karl Ivanovich Weber (also Carl von Waeber; , ,

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

– 8 January 1910) was a

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and a personal friend to King Gojong of

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

. He is best known for his 1885–1897 service as

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

's first consul general to Korea.

Early life and career

Weber was born in Libau (

) in the

Courland Governorate Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland or Governorate of Kurland, and known from 1795 to 1796 as the Viceroyalty of Courland, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the ...

to a middle-class family, and expressed an interest in the

history of Asia The history of Asia can be seen as the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions such as East Asia, South Asia, History of Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian ste ...

from an early age. He graduated from the

University of Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

in 1865, and joined the diplomatic service the following year. His first overseas posting was in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

; he was named Russian Consul in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

in 1882.

In Korea

Weber signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Russia and Korea on 25 June 1884, and moved to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

in April of the following year as Russia's first official representative to Korea. He was accompanied by his wife as well as his sister-in-law Antoinette Sontag, a housekeeper from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

.; available in English as His wife had personality conflicts with several other members of the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and German expatriate communities of Seoul; in particular, she was believed to be responsible for a malicious rumour in the late 1880s that the German consul, Ferdinand Krien, held orgies in the German legation. During his early service in Korea, Weber developed his friendship with King Gojong; when the Russian government made known their intention to transfer him onward to another posting, King Gojong wrote a letter of protest to

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

, dated 2 July 1895, in which he praised Weber's wisdom and asked that he be allowed to remain in Korea longer. His request was fulfilled when Alexei Speyer, Weber's intended replacement, was instead posted to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. After the 1895 assassination of Queen Min, Weber personally offered King Gojong refuge in the Russian Legation building in Jeongdong (modern-day

Jung-gu, Seoul Jung District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. It has a population of 131,452 (2013) and has a geographic area , making it both the least-populous and the smallest district of Seoul, and is divided into 15 '' dong'' (administr ...

), where he lived between February 1896 and February 1897. This time marked the height of Russian influence in Korea; Weber was able to persuade King Gojong to appoint a new cabinet consisting of a "pro-Russian faction" led by Yi Wan-yong, Yi Bum-jin, and Yi Yun-yong, and in May 1896 signed the Komura-Waeber Memorandum with his Japanese counterpart

Komura Jutarō was a Japanese statesman and diplomat.

, granting Russia the right to station four companies of troops in the Korean peninsula, and requiring the Japanese to recognise the new cabinet. Gojong was also quite impressed with Weber's housekeeper Sontag, and would go on to employ her as

majordomo A majordomo () is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a larg ...

in charge of household affairs after he returned to the palace. In August 1902, Weber was sent to Korea to participate in the celebration of 40th Anniversary of coronation on 5 October 1902. The celebration was delayed to next year's Spring, and then 30 April 1903.

Later career

Speyer finally arrived to replace Weber in September 1897, whereupon he returned to

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 ...

. Weber would again visit Seoul in an official capacity in April 1903, on the eve of the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, for further talks with King Gojong. He was a recipient of the

Order of St. Andrew The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-Called () is the highest order conferred by both the Russian Imperial Family (as an order of chivalry) and by the Russian Federation (as a state order). Established as the first and highest order ...

, Russia's highest order of chivalry. He died in Niederlößnitz and was buried in Kötzschenbroda, today both

Radebeul Radebeul (; ) is a town (''große Kreisstadt'') in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen (district), Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well known for its viticulture, a Karl May Museum, museum dedicated to writer Karl ...

. His tomb was designed by the architects Otto Rometsch and Adolph Suppes, with sculptures by Ernst Thalheim. .

Publications

* * * *

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Karl Ivanovich 1841 births 1910 deaths People from Liepāja People from Courland Governorate Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Nobility from the Russian Empire Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to China Diplomats of the Russian Empire Expatriates from the Russian Empire Expatriates in Korea Saint Petersburg State University alumni Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class