Theodore Brentano (March 29, 1854 – July 2, 1940) was an American attorney and judge and the first U.S. ambassador to Hungary (his full title was "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary").

[6] As a judge, Brentano presided over the high-profile trial of Patrick Eugene Prendergast for the assassination of Carter Harrison III (the mayor of Chicago).

[7] In 1899 Brentano became the new treasurer and president of the Illinois Staats-Zeitung, the newspaper of which his father was editor during the Civil War, when the majority stockholders appointed a new board of directors and ousted former treasurer Charles Francis Pietsch.

[8] Brentano was appointed as minister to Hungary on February 10, 1922, arrived in Budapest on May 10, presented his credentials on May 16, and served until May 6, 1927.

[9][10] He died at his daughter's home in Larchmont, New York on July 2, 1940, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.