Ignaz von Rudhart

Who was Ignaz von Rudhart?

Ignaz Ritter von Rudhart was a Bavarian scholar and public servant who was dispatched to Greece to serve as President of the Privy Council during the reign of King Otto.

Von Rudhart had received a doctorate of law from the University of Munich, had authored two books, one of them a statistical survey of the Bavarian Kingdom, which he served as a member of the Council of State, prior to his appointment as Prime Minister of Greece.

When he arrived in Athens in February, 1837, he was received suspiciously by the English legate Lyons and immediately found himself at also odds with the king over the role of the prime minister. King Otto was committed to an absolute monarchy and was resistant to a powerful chief minister. Von Rudhart had a series of clashes with king, and being disliked by Queen Amalia, his resignation was accepted by King Otto 10 months after he arrived in Greece. Otto served as his own President of the Privy Council until a constitution was forced on him during the September 3rd Revolution in 1843.