The Congress of Berlin was held between the European powers at Berlin in 1878 under the Presidency of Bismarck, to determine the boundaries of the Balkan states after the Russo-Turkish war. Beaconsfield attended as Britain' s chief envoy, and upon his return to England declared that he had brought back peace with honour. Research Congress of Berlin
Albert Gallatin was an American statesman. He was born in 1761 at Geneva, Switzerland and died in 1849. Educated at the university of Geneva, he emigrated to America in 1780. After varied experiences he settled as a manufacturer in Pennsylvania in 1784. By 1790 he was in the legislature. His rise to State and national prominence as a leader in the Democratic-Republican party was rapid. He was elected US Senator in 1793, but was not admitted to his seat. The following year he helped by his influence to suppress the Whiskey Insurrection. From 1795 to 1801 he was a member from Pennsylvania of the National House of Representatives, and took a leading part almost from the start, especially on financial topics. When his party came into power with Jefferson, Gallatin was invited to take the Treasury portfolio. He filled this position from 1801 to 1813, and has passed into history as one of the ablest of American financiers. In 1813 to 1814 he was peace commissioner in Europe, where his services in negotiating the Treaty of Ghent were conspicuous. He was US Minister to France from 1816 until 1823, and in 1826 he was sent as Envoy Extraordinary to Great Britain. He was later a bank president in New York City, and died at Astoria on Long Island. Research Albert Gallatin
Anson Burlingame was an American lawyer and politician. He was born in 1820 and died in 1870. From 1855 until 1861 he was Republican Congressman for Massachusetts and in 1861 was sent as US Minister to China. His diplomatic services in China were so important that in 1868 he was appointed by the Chinese Government a special envoy to the USA and Europe. In 1868 he negotiated the Burlingame Treaty with China, and effected treaties with England, Prussia, Holland and other European countries. Research Anson Burlingame
Carneades was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the third or new academy. He is supposed to have been born in 213 BC and died in 129 BC. Carneades held that although man has no infallible criterion of truth, yet we infer appearances of truth, which, as far as the conduct of life goes, are a sufficient guide. Carneades, along with Diogenes and Critolaus, went as an envoy from the Athenians to Rome to beg the mitigation of a fine, and so captivated the Roman people by his eloquence, delivering the one day a harangue in praise of justice, and on the next proving it to be an odious institution, that Cato, alarmed at the effect of such clever sophistry, persuaded the senate to send the philosophers back without delay. Research Carneades
Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste Andre Timothy D'Eon de Beaumont was a French transvestite, chevalier, doctor of law, diplomatist, etc. He was born in 1728 and died in 1810. In 1755 he was sent as envoy on a difficult mission to the Russian court, on which occasion he seems to have dressed himself as a woman. He afterwards distinguished himself in the Seven Years' War, then went to London as secretary of the French legation, and ultimately became minister plenipotentiary. Having quarrelled with the French government he lived fourteen years in London in a kind of banishment. During these years he had occasionally, probably for purposes of intrigue, dressed and passed as a female, and about this time his sex began to be doubted. In 1777 he returned to France, was ordered to dress as a woman, and continued to do so both there and after he returned to England in 1785, where he died in great poverty in 1810, being then regarded by everyone as a female. Research Charles D'Eon de Beaumont
Count Alois von Aehrenthal was an Austro-Hungarian statesman. He was born in 1854 at Grooskal, Bohemia and died in 1912. Educated at Prague and Bonn, in 1877 he entered the diplomatic service as attache at Paris. He was at St Petersburg as attache from 1878 until 1883 and as councillor of legation from 1888 until 1894 and as ambassador from 1899 until 1906. From 1895 until 1899 he was envoy extraordinary at Bucharest. In 1906 he succeeded Count Goluchowski as foreign minister and in 1908 shocked Europe by his annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Research Count Alois Von Aehrenthal
David Rizzio was an Italian musician. He was born in 1533 at Pancalieri and died in 1566. He went to Scotland as an attendant of an Italian envoy and while there attracted the attention of Mary Queen of Scots, who gave him an appointment in her court, first as a singer in the chapel, then as a valet de chambre, and finally as secretary. The promotion of a Roman Catholic foreigner aroused suspicion of a Popish plot, and Mary's husband, Lord Darnley, suspected Mary and David Rizzio of being lovers and took little persuasion from other jealous nobles that he should be murdered. On March the 9th 1566 at Holyrood, David Rizzio was dragged from Mary's presence and murdered, suffering 56 separate injuries in a frenzied attack. Research David Rizzio
An envoy is a person deputed by a ruler or government to negotiate a treaty, or transact other business, with a foreign ruler or government An envoy is a diplomatic agent ranking next after an ambassador, the difference being that an envoy is sent on a special occasion or for one particular purpose. The term is also applied to a person sent on a mission. Research Envoy
The Count d'Estaing was a French naval officer. He was born in 1729 and died in 1794. He commanded the fleet sent in 1778 to aid the colonies against Great Britain, and took Gerard, the first French Envoy to the United States. He planned an attack upon the British fleet in Newport harbour, but the campaign was not successful, and in 1779 with General Lincoln he attempted to take the city of Savannah by assault. He captured a number of British vessels and on his return to France he prevailed upon the Ministry to send 6000 men to America under the Comte de Rochambeau. Research Estaing
Baron Friedrich Melochion Grimm was German man of letters. He was born in 1723 at Ratisbon and died in 1807. He lived mostly in Paris and wrote in French. Having finished his studies, he went to Paris and there became acquainted with Jean Jacques Rousseau, Diderot, D'Alembert, D'Holbach, and other Parisian philosophers. He corresponded with Catharine II of Russia, Gustavus III. of Sweden, and other great personages. Frederick the Great among others gave him marks of great esteem. In 1776 he was appointed envoy from the Duke of Saxe-Giotha to the French court, and honoured with the title of baron. On the revolution breaking out he retired to Gotha, where he died in 1807. His Correspondance Litteraire possesses great literary and historical value. Research Friedrich Grimm
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Congress of Berlin
