Antal Grassalkovich I.

Count Antal I "Anton" Grassalkovich de Gyarak (Ürmény, 6 March 1694 – Gödöllő, 1 December 1771) was an Imperial Real Privy Councilor, president of the Royal Hungarian Court Chamber, Chief Justice of Hungary (1731–1748), and confidant of Empress Maria Theresia.

Early life Grassalkovich was born in Ürmény on 6 March 1694 into a noble family of Croatian descent from the lower nobility in Beckov. He has been described as Croatian by ancestry, although Vlach or Morlach ancestry has also been claimed.

Career Grassalkovich was appointed Royal Prosecutor (Causarum Regalium Director) in 1720 and Chief Justice of Hungary (Personalis) in 1731. On 26 May 1732, he was made a baron. He gave up the office of advocate general when he succeeded Count Erdődy as president of the Hungarian Court Chamber in 1748, a position he held until his death. On 5 April 1743, he was raised to the rank of count.

He had the Grassalkovich Palace in Bratislava built in 1760, as an impressive Rococo/Late Baroque summer palace with a French garden. The palace followed the model of the Royal Palace of Gödöllő, which was also built for Grassalkovich. Upon its completion, the Grassalkovich Palace was the focal point of the city's baroque music. Count Grassalkovich had his own orchestra, and his close relative Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy, often sent him his personal composer Joseph Haydn, who premiered some of his works here. Numerous balls and festivities of the imperial court were also held in the palace. who married her distant cousin, Count Ferenc Esterházy de Galántha (the only son of Count Ferenc Esterházy, the Ban of Croatia).