George Washington Wurts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Washington Wurts (March 26, 1843 in Philadelphia – January 25, 1928 in Rome)[1] was an American diplomat and art collector.
George Washington Wurts was one of eight children of William Wurts of Trenton, New Jersey.[2] William Wurts, who with his brothers Maurice, Charles and John founded the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, left a significant inheritance to his children on his death in 1858.[2] George Wurts attended the University of Pennsylvania for two years before joining the Diplomatic Service.[1]
Diplomatic career
From 1864 to 1865, Wurts served in Madrid, Spain before being transferred to Turin, Italy[1] where he became an assistant to George Perkins Marsh. Marsh, the first United States minister to the Kingdom of Italy, found the young Wurts to be "cultivated, hard-working, descreet, intensely loyal".[3] In 1869, Wurts moved to Florence, Italy[1] and became the Secretary of Legation, a position which he held even after Marsh's departure in 1881 when he was 81 years old.[4] In 1882, Wurts was assigned to St Petersburg, Russia and remained in his post there until 1892 when he was transferred back to Italy.[5] Wurts time in the diplomatic services spanned about thirty years,[6] although he never fulfilled his ambition to become an ambassador.[5]
