Baron Julius von Szilassy

Julius (Hope Joseph) (from 1918, Freiherr) Szilassy von Szilas und Pilis (Hungarian: Gyula báró Szilassy de Szilas et Pilis) (21 August 1870 – ? ? 1935) was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat of Hungarian origin serving in various posts including as an envoy to Greece during World War I and, for many years, as Secretary of the Austro-Hungary Legation to Washington, D.C.[1] He was a direct descendant of the British Hope family which owned the famous Hope Diamond.

Julius Freiherr Szilassy von Szilas und Pilis
Austro-Hungarian Minister to Greece
In office
7 November 1913 – 21 November 1916
Preceded byKarl Freiherr von Braun
Succeeded byNone
Personal details
Born(1870-08-21)21 August 1870
Bex, Switzerland
Died1935
Spouse(s)Louise-May, née Hecker

Life

Jules Hope Joseph de Szilassy (Jules Szilassy in French, Julius von Szilassy in German, Szilassy Gyula junior in Hungarian) was born August 21st 1870 in Bex, Switzerland, died June 7th 1935 in Nizza, France. Studies in Bex and College de Geneve, in Switzerland, after that at Harrow between 1885-1888, at the Universities in Budapest, Munich. He entered the Austro-Hungarian foreign service in 1894. He absolved the diplomatic examens in 1895. He served subsequently in a number of diplomatic missions abroad. In 1898, he married Louise-May Hecker (1874-1959), daughter of Frank J. Hecker, in Detroit.[2] They had one child, Charles Henry de Szilassy who was born December 15th 1899 Detroit, Wayne Michigan. He died in September 1967 in Grosse Pointe, Wayne. Louise-May Szilassy-Hecker asked for divorce in 1905.[1]she later married Theodore Gould Fletcher (1871-1921).

In 1907, Szilassy was a member of the Austro-Hungarian delegation to the Second Hague Peace Conference and was appointed the following year to serve as counsellor in St. Petersburg before returning to Vienna in 1912. In November 1913, he was appointed to serve as Austro-Hungarian Minister at Athens and had to manage war-time complexities in Greece. In November 1916, he was expelled by the Entente from Athens.[3]

After his return to Vienna at the end of 1916, he served for a year in the Ballhausplatz before being dispatched to Constantinople (now Istanbul) as counsellor in October 1917, where he remained until the end of the war. There had been several rumours of his appointment as Imperial Foreign Minister in 1917/1918 but his ties to Károlyi had prevented this.[4] On 1 May 1918, he was created a Baron.

As one of few professional diplomats who remained in service following the fall of the Habsburg Empire in 1918, he served as the first Hungarian envoy to Switzerland from February to April 1919. After Béla Kun's revolution, he went into exile but did not return to Hungary during the Horthy years and devoted his remaining life to write several books on diplomacy as well as his memoirs. The latter are unusually frank, in particular the criticism of Count von Berchtold, the Imperial Foreign Minister from 1912 to 1915.

Baron Szilassy died in 1935.

Notes

Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as Baron). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.

Works
  • L'Empire du travail. La Vie aux États-Unis. (Anadoli) Paris, Plon, 1905.
  • Jegyzetek Japánról I.(Notes on Japan I.) (Anadoli) In: Budapesti Szemle (Budapest Review) Vol. 147. (1911) No. 417. 344–362. p.
  • Jegyzetek Japánról II. (Notes on Japan II.) (Anadoli) In: Budapesti Szemle (Budapest Review) Vol. 148. (1911) No. 418. 8–31. p.
  • Angol levelek I. (English Letters I.) (Anadoli) In: Budapesti Szemle (Budapest Review) Vol. 170. (1917) No. 485. 218–229. p.
  • Angol levelek II. (English Letters II.) (Anadoli) In: Budapesti Szemle (Budapest Review) Vol. 170. (1917) No. 486. 408–436. p.
  • Impressions sur la situation internationale de la Hongrie et la politique à suivre. Memorandum for Count Michel Károlyi. Bern, February 9, 1919. In: Correspondance of Count Michel Károlyi Vol. 1. 1905–1920. Ed. Litván, György. Budapest, 1978. 418–423. p.
  • Der Untergang der Donau-Monarchie. Diplomatische Erinnerungen, Berlin, E. Berger, 1921.
  • Wahrheiten und Legenden. Gedanken über das, was wir suchen, Berlin, Enck, 1921. 128 p.
  • Manuel pratique de diplomatie moderne, Lausanne–Genève, 1925.
  • Traité pratique de diplomatie moderne, Paris, Payot, 1928.
  • Le procès de la Hongrie. Les relations franco–hongroises devant l'histoire, Paris, F. Alcan, 1932.

References
  1. "Countess Asks Divorce" (PDF). New York Times. 2 June 1905.
  2. Marek, Miroslav. "Szilassy de Szilas et Pilis". Genealogy.EU.
  3. 'New ultimatum to Greek king', New York Times, 11 December 1916.
  4. 'Szilassy Gyula, báró', Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
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