Henry Wikoff (c. 1812 – 28 April 1884), known as the ''Chevalier'' Wikoff, was an American traveler, writer and diplomat.

Biography

Wikoff was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, the illegitimate son of a doctor who owned

Blockley Township, Pennsylvania Blockley Township is a defunct township that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Incorporated in 1704, the township was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia under the 1854 Act of Consolidation. History An irregularly shaped ...

. Despite his birth status, he inherited a sizable fortune, which enabled him to travel extensively in Europe.Crain, Caleb. "The Courtship of Henry Wikoff," ''American Literary History'' 18.4 (2006): pp. 659-94 He graduated from

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in 1831,''Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1889'' and then attended the College of New Jersey (but did not get a degree). He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Pennsylvania in 1834. That same year, Wikoff then went to Europe, where he acted as a diplomatic agent for the United States, Britain, and France at different times, and even spent some time in prison in Italy. Upon returning to America, he was responsible for the successful tour by famous dancer

Fanny Elssler Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 23 June 181027 November 1884) was an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period. Life and career She was born in Gumpendorf, a neighborhood of Vienna. Her father Johann Florian Elssler was a second ge ...

in 1840. In 1852, after a sensational trial in front of the High Court of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, he and a conspirator, Frenchman Louis Vannaud, were sentenced to 15 months in prison for attempting to force an heiress, Miss G. C. Gamble, into marriage in order to gain access to her fortune. Wikoff became a close friend of First Lady

Mary Todd Lincoln Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) served as First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Mary Lincoln was a member of a large and wealthy, slave-owning ...

, which created some scandalous gossip.The Lincoln Institute website
/ref> He was friendly with the Bonaparte imperial family in France, and was awarded the

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the Legion of Honor by

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, which gave him the title of ''Chevalier'' (Knight), and was made Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic, by the King of Spain in 1871. He acted as an undercover reporter for the '' New York Herald'', making use of his presence in government circles. Wikoff died 28 April 1884 in Brighton, Sussex, England, age 72 or 74.

Works

*''Napoleon Louis Bonaparte, First President of France; Biographical and Personal Sketches, Including a Visit to the Prince at the Castle of Ham.'' New York: George P. Putnam, 1849 *''My Courtship and its Consequences.'' New York: J. C. Derby, 1855 *''The Adventures of a Roving Diplomatist.'' New York: W. P. Fetridge, 1857 *
Memoir of Ginevra Guerrabella
'. New York: T.J. Crowan, 1863
''Reminiscences of an Idler.''
New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert, 1880

References

External links

Mary’s Charlatans: Chevalier Henry Wikoff (1813-1884)
''The Lehrman Institute'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wikoff, Henry 1884 deaths 1810s births Date of birth unknown American male writers Lawyers from Philadelphia Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Union College (New York) alumni 19th-century American lawyers