Johann Georg von Browne-Camus
Johann Georg von Browne-Camus (born September 20, 1767 in Riga ; † January 1827 ) was 3rd Count Browne of Camus (also Browne de Camas), a Russian colonel and a Maltese knight and an important patron of Ludwig van Beethoven and a representative of Tsarist Russia in Austria .
He was the son of Russian Field Marshal Georg Reichsgraf von Browne and his second wife Eleonore Christine von Mengden (1729–1787), daughter of Baron Johann Heinrich von Mengden (1701–1792) and Countess Christina Elisabeth von Münnich (1711–1775). He had inherited a great fortune in lands from his parents.
When he and his wife moved to Vienna on a diplomatic mission in 1794/1795 , they could afford to sponsor the artist Beethoven in Vienna. Beethoven called him the first patron of his muse and dedicated the three string trios Opus 9 (1798), the piano sonata in B flat major Opus 22 (1800), the 7 variations in E flat major on the theme of Men Who Feel Love from Mozart's to him Opera Die Zauberflöte WoO 46 (1801) and Gellert's Six Songs Opus 48 (1803). He also dedicated some compositions to the wife of his benefactor.
But the count lived lavishly, and the consequences of the Napoleonic Wars also ruined his fortune and health. He suffered a nervous breakdown and was admitted to a mental hospital where he also died.
family
On August 22, 1790 he married Annette Margarethe von Vietinghoff-Scheel (born January 12, 1769; † May 13, 1803), also known as Anna Margarete, daughter of Otto Hermann von Vietinghoff called Scheel (1722–1792), the general director of the All-Russian Medical College under Empress Catherine II of Russia and Countess Anna Ulrike von Münnich (1741–1811).
With his wife he had the son Moritz von Browne (* 1798, † 1820). This died as the last of his line.
literature
- Derek Carew: The Companion to The Mechanical Muse: The Piano, Pianism and Piano Music, c. 1760-1850 . Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2007, p. 45 ( side view )
- [H.] Peter Clive: Beethoven and His World. A Biographical Dictionary . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 60 ( side view )
- Stefan Michael Newerkla: The Irish imperial counts of Browne-Camus in Russian and Austrian service. From the Treaty of Limerick (1691) to the death of her family friend Ludwig van Beethoven (1827). In: Lazar Fleishman - Stefan Michael Newerkla - Michael Wachtel (eds.): Скрещения судеб. Literary and cultural relations between Russia and the West. A Festschrift for Fedor B. Poljakov (= Stanford Slavic Studies, Volume 49). Berlin: Peter Lang, 2019, pp. 43–68.
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Browne-Camus, Johann Georg von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Броун-Камус, Иван Юрьевич |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | 3. Count Browne of Camas, Russian colonel and Knight of Malta |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 20, 1767 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Riga |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 1827 |