Bartholomäus von Stürmer

Born in the Pera district of Constantinople, Bartholomäus was the son of Ignatz Lorenz Freiherr von Stürmer, an Austrian diplomat in the Ottoman Empire, and the Baroness Elisabeth of Testa.

In order to ensure a quality education, he was registered with the Akademie für Orientalische Sprachen (Academy of Eastern Languages) in Vienna in 1796.

There he met Karl Philipp zu Schwarzenberg, whom he followed on trips to over 8000 places, including the important Congress of Châtillon (5 February–19 March 1814).

His arrival was not appreciated by the British, and he soon saw the impossibility of fulfilling his mission, which was to ensure with his own eyes the presence of Bonaparte on the island, to denounce any attempt to escape and to write every month a report in agreement with the Prussian and Russian representatives.

He then returned to Austria and remained without an assignment until 1832, when he was appointed ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, on account of his knowledge of the Turkish language.