Baron de Budberg
(1817-1881)

Andreas Feodorowitsch Budberg – also known as Baron Andreas Ludwig Karl Theodor von Budberg-Bönninghausen – was born in Riga on 1 January 1817. His father was Theodor Otto von Bönninghausen, a colonel in the Imperial Russian Army and his mother was Helene Juliane von Budberg, from an old Baltic family. After attending the cathedral school at Reval, Budberg continued his education at St Petersburg and entered the Russian diplomatic service in 1841.

In 1845 he joined the Russian embassy at the German Bundestag in Frankfurt, becoming chargé d'affaires there in 1848. In 1850 he played the same role in Prussia, at the Russian embassy in Berlin, being promoted to ambassador the following year. In 1856 he became the Russian ambassador to Austria in Vienna, returning to Berlin between 1858 and 1862. He was next appointed Russian ambassador to France, a role he filled until 1868. 

He was greatly interested in Japan and knew Philipp Franz von Siebold, the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan. He was also closely connected with Count Karl Robert von Nesselrode, Grand Duke Constantine and Baron Wadenstierna.

Baron Budberg died at St Petersburg on 28 January 1881.