Karl Joseph von Firmian

Joseph Karl Gotthard Firmian, Italian Carlo Gottardo Firmian ( born August 6 1716 in Mezzocorona at Trent, then Tyrol; † July 20, 1782 in Milan ) was a South Tyrolean nobleman, art collector and politician, as well as Austrian Governor-General of Lombardy.

Carl Joseph von Firmian, nephew of the Archbishop of Salzburg Leopold Anton von Firmian, received his education Erthal, Innsbruck, Salzburg and at the University of Leiden, then to travel in France and Italy.

After the accession of Francis I, he returned to Germany and was sent in 1756 by Maria Theresa in 1753 Austrian ambassador to Naples and as minister plenipotentiary in Lombardy. In this Habsburg since 1535 Duchy Firmian succeeded in compromise with young reformers administrative reform, which was mediated by the Viennese diplomat Joseph of Sperges. As a man of the Enlightenment, he urged the spiritual influence back, built libraries and promoted science and the arts, as patron and friend of Johann Joachim Winckelmann and Angelica Kauffmann.

Firmian died on July 20, 1782 in Milan. He left a library of 40,000 volumes and precious art collections. The line died out in the male line with Karl Leopold Max (1760-1831), Count of Firmian, Archbishop of Vienna.