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Stein, Lorenz von

(Encyclopedia)Stein, Lorenz von lōˈrĕnts fən shtīn [key], 1815–90, German economist and sociologist. He studied jurisprudence at the Univ. of Kiel and at Paris and taught (1846–51) at the Univ. of Kiel, bu...

Rezzori, Gregor von

(Encyclopedia)Rezzori, Gregor von, 1914–98, Austrian-Romanian writer, b. Gregor Arnulph Hilarius von Rezzori d'Arezzo in Czernowitz, Austria-Hungary (later in Romania and the USSR, now Chernivtsi, Ukraine). The a...

Ribbentrop, Joachim von

(Encyclopedia)Ribbentrop, Joachim von yōˈaäkhĭm fən rĭbˈəntrôp [key], 1893–1946, German foreign minister (1938–45). After World War I he became a wealthy champagne merchant. He joined the National Soci...

Frederick William III

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William III, 1770–1840, king of Prussia (1797–1840), son and successor of Frederick William II. Well-intentioned but weak and vacillating, he endeavored to maintain neutrality in the Nap...

melodrama

(Encyclopedia)melodrama [Gr.,=song-drama], originally a spoken text with musical background, as in Greek drama. The form was popular in the 18th cent., when its composers included Georg Benda, J. J. Rousseau, and W...

Hauser, Kaspar

(Encyclopedia)Hauser, Kaspar käsˈpär houˈzər [key], 1812?–1833, mysterious German foundling. He appeared in Nuremberg in 1828 in a state of semi-idiocy, producing dubious documents and giving an incoherent a...

Liebknecht, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Liebknecht, Wilhelm lēpˈkənĕkht [key], 1826–1900, German socialist leader and journalist. His participation in the revolution in Germany in 1848–49 forced him into exile, and he lived in Engl...

Eichendorff, Joseph, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Eichendorff, Joseph, Freiherr von yōˈzĕf frīˈhĕr fən īˈkhəndôrf [key], 1788–1857, German poet, a leader of the late romantics. He studied law, volunteered in Lützow's corps in the Napole...

Eck, Johann Maier von

(Encyclopedia)Eck, Johann Maier von yōˈhän mīˈər fən ĕk [key], 1486–1543, German Roman Catholic theologian. He was of peasant stock, the name von Eck being taken from his birthplace in Swabia. He was a br...

Dittersdorf, Karl Ditters von

(Encyclopedia)Dittersdorf, Karl Ditters von dĭtˈərs fən dĭtˈərsdôrf [key], 1739–99, Austrian composer and violinist. He was a successful opera and symphony composer in Vienna and an important precursor of...