József Károlyi

Count József Hilarius Sergius Marius Franz Anton Johann Nepomucen Károlyi de Nagykároly (7 October 1768 – 4 April 1803), was a Hungarian nobleman and soldier.

Early life

Károlyi was born in Vienna, the capital of the Archduchy of Austria on 7 October 1768. He was a son of Antal Károlyi de Nagykároly (1732–1791) and Józefa Antalné von Harrucker de Békés-Gyula, a daughter of Court Chamberlain, Baron Johann Franz Dominik Bernhard von Harrucker.

His paternal grandparents were Count Ferenc Károlyi (only surviving son of Count Sándor Károlyi) and Krisztina Csáky de Körösszegh (a niece of the Archbishop of Kalocsa, Cardinal Imre Csáky). His aunt, Countess Anna Károlyi de Nagykároly, was the wife of Count Pál Szapáry, and another aunt, Countess Eva Károlyi de Nagykároly, was the wife of Count József von Starhemberg.

He was educated at the Collegium pauperum nobilium in Vác, which was run by the Piarists under the direction of Cardinal Christoph Bartholomäus Anton Migazzi, the Prince-Archbishop of Vienna. While in school, he traveled extensively around Europe with his father, including dining with Chancellor Ferenc Esterházy, and attending an audience with Queen Maria Theresa. Beginning in 1785, he was taught law and history by university professors in Vienna, including by Baron Karl Anton von Martini, Joseph von Sonnenfels, Franz Anton Zeiller, Johann Heinrich von Heyden, Leopold Plech and Abbot Giacomo Brumati. Károlyi's marriage contract to Countess Erzsébet "Elisabeth" von Waldstein-Wartenberg (1769–1813) was signed on 18 January 1789 and the wedding took place on 8 February 1789., a daughter of Georg Christian von Waldstein-Wartenberg and Countess Elisabeth Ulfeldt. Among her siblings were brother, Count Emanuel von Waldstein (who married Maria Theresa Sztáray), and sisters, Countess Maria Antonia von Waldstein (wife of Prince Ferenc Koháry of Csábrág and Szitnya), and Countess Wilhelmine "Vilma" von Waldstein (who married Count Jeromos von Colloredo-Mansfeld). Together, they were the parents of seven children, six of who survived to adulthood, including: an Austro-Hungarian diplomat who served as the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the German Empire and Ambassador to the United Kingdom, under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.