Count Ferenc Esterházy de Galántha (Croatian: Franjo Esterházy; 19 September 1715 – 7 November 1785) was a Hungarian noble and politician who served as Ban of Croatia between 1783 and 1785.
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Early life
Esterházy was born in Pápa, Kingdom of Hungary on 19 September 1715. He was the son of Count Ferenc Esterházy de Galántha (1683–1754) and Countess Maria Sidonia Pálffy ab Erdöd. Among his siblings was Miklós "Nikolaus" Esterházy de Galántha, who served as the Austrian Envoy to Russia from 1753 to 1761.
His paternal grandparents were Count Ferenc "Ferko" Esterházy de Galántha (the youngest son of Count Nikolaus Esterházy de Galántha), and Countess Katalin "Catharina" Thököly de Késmárk (a daughter of Count István Thököly de Késmárk). His maternal grandparents were Count János V Pálffy ab Erdöd, the Ban of Croatia and Palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary, and, his first wife, Countess Teréz Czobor de Czoborszentmihály.
Career
Esterházy was in the service of the Austrian monarchs and performed various administrative tasks. He was an Imperial Chamberlain and a Privy Councilor. For over forty years he held the office of the Mosonmagyaróvár governor from 1741 to 1783. In Vienna, he held the position of Director of the Court Theatre from 1752 to 1754, in whose acting troupe he found his wife. From 1762 to 1785 he was the Hungarian Court Chancellor, concurrently holding the positions of Supreme Chamberlain from 1765 to 1771, and Supreme Court Master from 1773 to 1783, in the Kingdom of Hungary. For the last two years before his death from 1783 to 1785, he was the Ban of Croatia and Slavonia.