Wikipedia

Edgar L. G. Prochnik

Edgar Leo Gustav Prochnik (21 January 1879 – 12 April 1964) was an Austrian diplomat and writer.

Edgar L. G. Prochnik
Photograph of Prochnik, 1921
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Austria to the United States
In office
2 December 1921 – 13 March 1938
Preceded byErich Zwiedinek von Südenhorst
(as Chargé d'affaires of the Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Succeeded byLudwig Kleinwächter
Personal details
Born
Edgar Leo Gustav Prochnik

(1879-01-21)21 January 1879
Amborina, Dutch East Indies
Died12 April 1964(1964-04-12) (aged 85)
Washington, D.C.
Spouse(s)
Mary Seibert Batchelder
​
​
(died 1912)​

Gretchen Stirling James
​
​
(m. 1915; died 1964)​
Children4
Parent(s)Therese Keller
Leo Johann Prochnik

Early life

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Prochnik was born on 21 January 1879 in Amborina, Dutch East Indies. He was the son of Therese Keller and Leo Johann Prochnik.[1]

He graduated from the Consular School in Vienna in 1904.[2]

Career

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Prochnik with former Chancellor of Austria Johann Schober and his wife, at the White House, 1925

From 1905 to 1912, Prochnik was the Austrian consular attaché and consul in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago.[3] On 2 January 1912, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria approved the establishment of an Imperial and Royal Consulate in St. Paul, Minnesota and appointed Prochnik as consul. He held this position until June 1920 when he was appointed Austrian Consul General in Washington, D.C.[4] He was promoted to Chargés d'affaires ad interim on 2 December 1921. On 7 May 1925, he was accredited as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and presented his credentials to President Calvin Coolidge the next day, 8 May 1925.[5][6] He served as Envoy and Minister until 13 March 1938 when the legation was closed and his mission was terminated due to the Anschluss with Germany.[7]

Later life

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Prochnik, who was opposed the Nazi regime,[8] was left "a man without a country".[9] He remained in the United States where he lectured on diplomatic history in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University until 1960.[10]

After he left the diplomatic service, his wife went "into the trousseau and lingerie business".[11]

Personal life

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Procknik and his family on Easter Sunday, 1925

Prochnik was twice married, both times to American woman. His first wife was Mary Seibert Batchelder (1889–1912), a daughter of David James Batchelder Jr., vice-president of Tremont Lumber Company of Chicago which had mills in Eros, Louisiana. Before her death in 1912, they were the parents of a daughter:

  • Loranda Stephanie Prochnik (1911–1988), who married Francis Lecompte Spalding Sr. in 1931.[12] They divorced and she married Kenneth Kershner Leavitt.[13]

In 1915 in Boston, he married Gretchen Stirling James (1892–1984), a daughter of Edward Preston James and Lillian Stirling (née Price) James. After they left the Embassy, they lived at 1813 24th Street in Washington.[14] Together, they were the parents of:

  • Valerie Stirling Prochnik (1916–2006), who married Jean Raymond Louis De Sibour, a son of Viscount Jules Henri de Sibour, in 1936.[15][16] They divorced and she married Thomas Rush Ragland Jr. in 1968.[17][18]
  • Edgar Stirling Prochnik (1920–1996),[19] an executive with Union Carbide who married Martha Holman, a daughter of H. Russell Holman, in 1954.[20]
  • Patricia Stirling Prochnik (1921–1996), who married economist Samuel Nakasian, who was previously married to Patricia Dohrenwend,[21] in 1951.[22][23]

Prochnik died at his home in Washington, D.C. on 12 April 1964.[9]

Published works

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  • La Question d'Orient[3]
  • The Diplomatic History of Europe in the Nineteenth Century, Part IV[3]
  • The Prime Ministers and Governments of England[3]

References

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  1. ^ Who was who in America. Marquis-Who's Who. 1968. p. 767. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  2. ^ Taylor, Stephen (1935). Who's who in Central and East-Europe. Central European Times Publishing Company. p. 782. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Collection: Edgar L. Prochnik Papers". findingaids.library.georgetown.edu. Georgetown University Archival Resources. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  4. ^ Times, by the New York Times Company Special Cable To the New York (4 July 1920). "AUSTRIA APPOINTS CONSUL.; Edgar Prochnik, Formerly at St. Paul, to Go to Washington". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  5. ^ Times, Special to The New York (8 May 1925). "AUSTRIA'S FIRST ENVOY RECEIVED BY COOLIDGE; Minister Prochnik Thanks United States for Aiding Republic After War". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  6. ^ "BARON PANTZ ENTERTAINS; Gives Tea for Austrian Minister and Mrs. Edgar Prochnik". The New York Times. 2 April 1937. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Former Ambassadors". www.austria.org. Austria in USA. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  8. ^ Jelinek, Gerhard (11 October 2017). "Es gab nie einen schöneren März": 1938. Dreißig Tage bis zum Untergang (in German). Amalthea Signum Verlag. p. 157. ISBN 978-3-903083-77-6. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Edgar Prochnik, Ex-Envoy Of Austria to the U.S., 85". The New York Times. 13 April 1964. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  10. ^ "PROCHNIK JOINS FACULTY; Ex-Austrian Minister Will Lecture at Georgetown University". The New York Times. 19 September 1938. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  11. ^ "WIFE OF EX-AUSTRIAN ENVOY NOW IN TRADE". The New York Times. 25 May 1938. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  12. ^ Times, Special to The New York (21 January 1931). "AUSTRIAN ENVOY'S DAUGHTER TO WED; Loranda Prochnik to Marry F. Le C. Spalding--Her Father Is Minister to Washington. WEDDING EARLY IN SUMMER Miss Prochnik a Debutante of Last Winter--Her Flance Preparing for Diplomatic Career". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  13. ^ Maxwell, Mary Kershner (1981). The Kershner Families of Maryland, 1731-1977. Kershner Family Association. p. 228. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  14. ^ Who's who in the East. Larkin, Roosevelt & Larkin. 1942. p. 1704. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  15. ^ TIblg, Special to TiE NEW YORK (26 September 1935). "Austrian Minister Announces Engagement Of Daughter, Valerie, to John R. de Sibour". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  16. ^ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (2 June 1936). "VALERIE PROCHNIK WED IN WASHINGTON; Daughter of Austrian Envoy Becomes Bride of Jean de Sibour, Viscount's Son. MANY DIPLOMATS GUESTS Most Rev. A.G. Cigognani, the Apostolic Delegate, Performs the Ceremony". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  17. ^ Times, Special to The New York (31 March 1968). "Mrs. de Sibour Wed To Tom Ragland Jr". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Stephanie S. de Sibour Plans Wedding to L. S. Stinchcomb". The New York Times. 1 February 1970. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Edgar S. Prochnik". The Star-Democrat. 11 January 1996. p. 6. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Martha Holman Prochnik Obituary". www.fhnfuneralhome.com. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  21. ^ "MISS DOHRENWEND A BRIDE; Bayside Girl Married in Great Neck to Samuel Nakasian". The New York Times. 2 September 1945. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  22. ^ "WEDDINGS; A. P. Nakasian, Joseph Jenkins". The New York Times. 30 May 1993. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  23. ^ "The Holton-Arms School" (PDF). www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Erich Zwiedinek von Südenhorst
(as Chargé d'affaires of the Austro-Hungarian Empire)
 Austrian Envoy and Minister in Washington, D.C.
1921–1938 		Succeeded by
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