Frederic Courtland Penfield

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Frederic Courtland Penfield
Penfield circa 1913
United States Minister to Austria
In office
July 28, 1913 – April 7, 1917
PresidentWoodrow Wilson
Preceded byRichard C. Kerens
Succeeded byArthur Hugh Frazier
United States Diplomatic Agent to Egypt
In office
May 13, 1893 – June 17, 1897
PresidentGrover Cleveland
Preceded byEdward C. Little
Succeeded byThomas Harrison
Personal details
Born(1855-04-23)April 23, 1855
Connecticut
DiedJune 19, 1922(1922-06-19) (aged 67)
787 Fifth Avenue
Spouses
Katharine Albert McMurdo Welles
(m. 1892⁠–⁠1905)
(m. 1908⁠–⁠1922)
Parent(s)Sophia Young
Daniel Penfield

Frederic Courtland Penfield (April 23, 1855 – June 19, 1922) was an American diplomat who served in London, Cairo, and as U.S. Ambassador to Austria-Hungary.

Biography[edit]

Frederic Penfield was born in Haddam, Connecticut, on April 23, 1855 to Daniel Penfield and Sophia Young He received his early education at Russell's military school in New Haven, and later studied in England and Germany.[1] After several years with the Hartford Courant he became the United States vice consul in London in 1885. He married Katharine Albert McMurdo Welles (c1855-1905) in 1892.

He became the United States diplomatic agent to Egypt from 1893 to 1897. His wife died in 1905, and in 1907 he published the travelogue East of Suez: Ceylon, India, China and Japan describing his journeys through those countries. In 1908 he married Anne Weightman Walker, said to be one of the wealthiest women in the world.

He became the United States Ambassador to Austria-Hungary from 1913 to 1917. During the period of United States neutrality (1914-1917) in World War I, he took care of the interests in Austria-Hungary of several of the belligerents.[2]

Penfield died on June 19, 1922, at his home on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan of "congestion of the brain".[3] He was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.[4]

Bibliography[edit]

  • East of Suez: Ceylon, India, China and Japan. New York: The Century Co. 1907. Online version at Project Gutenberg

References[edit]

  1. ^ Winthrop. "Five o'Clock Tidings", The Spur, July 1, 1922, p. 40.
  2. ^ Reynolds, Francis J., ed. (1921). "Penfield, Frederic Courtland" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company.
  3. ^ "F.C. Penfield Dead at His Home Here". The New York Times. June 20, 1922. Retrieved 2009-07-25. Ex-Ambassador to Austria Had Been Ill With Congestion of the Brain. Born in Connecticut 68 Years Ago and Was for Some Time on The Hartford Courant. Sent to Austria in 1913. Known as Traveler and Writer. Recipient of Many Degrees. Frederic Courtland Penfield former Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, died just after 10 o'clock last night at his home, 787 Fifth Avenue.
  4. ^ "Frederic Courtland Penfield". Political Graveyard. Retrieved 2009-07-25.

External links[edit]