Henry Wikoff

Henry Wikoff (c. 1812 – 28 April 1884), known as the Chevalier Wikoff, was an American traveler, writer, impresario and diplomat.

Biography Wikoff was born in Philadelphia, the illegitimate son of a doctor who owned Blockley Township, Pennsylvania. Despite his birth status, he inherited a sizable fortune, which enabled him to travel extensively in Europe. He graduated from Union College in 1831, and then attended the College of New Jersey (but did not get a degree). He was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania in 1834.

That same year, Wikoff then went to Europe, where he acted as a diplomatic agent for the United States, Britain, and France at different times, Wikoff became a close friend of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, which created some scandalous gossip. Likely due to this relationship, Wikoff was involved in leaking portions of Abraham Lincoln's 1861 State of the Union Address to the press, which he possibly obtained from Mary Todd Lincoln.

He was friendly with the Bonaparte imperial family in France, and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor by Napoleon III, which gave him the title of Chevalier (Knight),

Works Napoleon Louis Bonaparte, First President of France; Biographical and Personal Sketches, Including a Visit to the Prince at the Castle of Ham. New York: George P. Putnam, 1849 My Courtship and its Consequences. New York: J. C. Derby, 1855 The Adventures of a Roving Diplomatist. New York: W. P. Fetridge, 1857 Memoir of Ginevra Guerrabella. New York: T.J. Crowan, 1863 Reminiscences of an Idler. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert, 1880