Karl von Zinzendorf

His massive diary, written daily over a period of about 66 years, is an important historical documentary source for his era, both in politics and in the arts.

His uncle was Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorff und Pottendorf, a famous religious and social reformer and bishop of the Moravian Church.

During the years 1764 to 1770 he took a series of government posts in a variety of foreign locations: Switzerland, Italy, Malta, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, the British Isles, and Belgium.

As privy finance minister (President of the Court Audit Office) to Emperor Joseph II between 1781 and 1792 von Zinzendorf introduced a uniform system of accounting for state revenues, expenditures, and debts of the territories of the Austrian crown, called Appalt.

In 1769 he joined the Teutonic Order; this involved vows of poverty, chastity, and piety; it "neatly masked the social embarrassment of his situation, provided him with lodgings, and would eventually give him security in his old age" (Link).