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CountFrancis Lützow (German:Franz Heinrich Hieronymus Valentin von Lützow,Czech:František Lützow; 21 March 1849 – 13 January 1916) was anAustrian author, historian, critic and revivalist.
Francis Lützow was born on 21 March 1849 inHamburg. He was the son of Franz Joseph Johann Nepomuk Gottfried von Lützow (1814–1897) and HenrietteSeymour (1822–1909). His brother, CountHeinrich von Lützow, was a diplomat who served as theAustro-Hungarian Ambassador to Italy.[1] His sister, Countess Rosa, married PrinceAlfred zu Salm-Salm (younger brother of PrinceLeopold zu Salm-Salm) in 1869.[2]
He came from the Austro-Bohemian (Catholic) branch of the noble family of Lützow, originally fromMecklenburg, and was raised to the rank ofCount in 1692.[1] His maternal grandparents were Henry Augustus Seymour (an illegitimate son of the2nd Marquess of Hertford) and Margaret Williams.[3]
He was educated atVienna andInnsbruck and followed a diplomatic career.
He was active in Bohemian politics and became a member of theAustrian parliament, serving in theHouse of Deputies, andChamberlain to the EmperorFranz Joseph from 1881.
A tireless champion ofBohemian independence from theAustro-Hungarian Empire, he was a member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Bohemia, and of the Bohemian Academy. He wasIlchester lecturer at Oxford in 1904, and lectured at American universities in 1912.
Perhaps his greatest accomplishments are his various books regarding thehistory of Bohemia,Prague, Slavic poetry,Historiography and Literature. His works were intentionally written in the English language and were thus more easily accessible to Western decision-makers who would eventually agree to the formation of an independentCzechoslovakia after the end of World War I. The first president of Czechoslovakia,Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk wrote a touching introduction to Lützow's 1939 edition of 'Bohemia, An Historical Sketch' and expressed gratitude for Lützow's various contributions to Czechoslovakia's independence.
On 18 January 1881, Lützow married Anna Gustava von Bornemann (1853–1932) in London.
Lützow died on 13 January 1916 inMontreux, Switzerland, at the age of 66. He was buried in the family tomb inVamberk in the present-dayCzech Republic.[4]
