1838 Karacsay Map of Montenegro

Fedor von Karacsay (1787 - 1859) was a Hungarian cartographer, artist, and adventurer. A member of a Hungarian noble family, little is known about his childhood, though records show that he was a graduate of the Theresianum, a prestigious Austrian military academy in Wiener Neustadt. He as a cadet in the Austrian army by 1805 and held the rank of lieutenant while serving at the 1813 Battle of Dresden, a major engagement during the Napoleonic Wars. Early in his military career, Karacsay received formal training in military engineering and advanced survey methods. A remarkable soldier who had distinguished himself due to his ability and drive, he had been promoted to the rank of colonel by the 1830s and was given the highly important post of garrison commander of Cattaro (Kotor). Located on the Bay of Kotor not far from the Dalmatian coast, the city was a flashpoint in the region, since it was an Austrian-controlled port city with a majority Slavic population. Montenegro openly coveted the city, and, while open warfare never broke out between the Montenegrins and the Austrians, relations were always tense at best. Karacsay, however, had a kind and genial demeanor that endeared him to the locals, as did the reality of his time as garrison commander, which was gentler and more culturally sensitive than that of his predecessors. Despite the tension and near hostility between the two nations, Karacsay was invited to visit the court of the Montenegrin vladika Petar II Petrović-Njegoš in Cetinje in 1836. The two became fast friends and formed a lasting friendship that transcended national rivalries. It was because of this relationship that Karacsay was able to complete and publish the first scientific survey of the interior of Montenegro. After his tour of duty in Kotor ended, Karacsay was posted throughout the world, including as the head of the Habsburg mission in Belgrade and as special envoy to Sultan Abdülmecid I in Constantinople. Due to this intellect and capacity for writing, Karacsay published several travel books about his journeys. By the early 1850s, Karacsay was posted in Brno, and later Budapest, where he developed a fascination for Pan-Turanism, the idea that Hungarians share a common ancestry with the Turkic peoples as well as other Asiatic ethnic groups. In his desire to find these links between Hungarian and Asian cultures, he traveled to Herat, Balkh, Bohara, and Samarkand. Karacsay died in Tehran in 1859 holding the rank of General. More by this mapmaker...