Baron Ladislaus Müller von Szentgyörgy explained

Ladislaus Freiherr Müller von Szentgyörgy
Order:Austro-Hungarian Minister to Bulgaria
Term Start:14 February 1900
Term End:11 March 1904
Predecessor:Guido Freiherr von Call zu Rosenburg und Kulmbach
Successor:Karl Freiherr von Braun
Order2:Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Japan
Term Start2:30 March 1912
Term End2:25 August 1914
Predecessor2:Guido Freiherr von Call zu Rosenburg und Kulmbach
Successor2:None
Birth Date:18 October 1855
Birth Place:Budapest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary)
Death Place:Budapest, Hungary

Ladislaus Freiherr Müller von Szentgyörgy (Hungarian: szentgyörgyi báró Müller László) (18 October 1855 – 14 March 1941) was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat of Hungarian origin serving as ambassador at Tokyo at the outbreak of World War I.

Life

Born on 18 October 1855 as son of a Budapest apothecary, he entered the Austro-Hungarian foreign service in 1884 through its consular service, which was a distinct branch separate from the diplomatic corps and the staff at the Foreign Ministry in Vienna.[1] Raised to the nobility in 1896 as Ladislaus Müller von Szentgyörgy, he subsequently served as consul general (with the rank of minister) at Sofia from 1900 to 1904.

In March 1904, Müller was appointed as Second Section Chief (equivalent to head of the Political Section) in the Imperial Foreign Ministry in Vienna succeeding Kajetan von Mérey who had been promoted to First Section Chief (equivalent to an Undersecretary). In January 1909, it was Müller's own turn to be promoted to First Section Chief. Elevated to the rank of a Baron in 1910, he was one of the few products of the 19th century nobility in the Austro-Hungarian diplomatic corps.[2]

On 30 March 1912, Baron Müller von Szentgyörgy was appointed as Ambassador to Japan but returned to Vienna following the Japanese declaration of war against Austria-Hungary on 25 August 1914. On 4 January 1917, as part of a larger shake-up of personnel at the Ballhausplatz, he was appointed to serve a second term as First Section Chief but was replaced already in June by Baron von Flotow. He died in Budapest on 14 March 1941 at the age of 85.

Notes and References

  1. William D. Godsey, Aristocratic Redoubt: The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War, West Lafayette, Purdue University Press, 1999, p. 79.
  2. Godsey, op. cit., p. 20.