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Bach, Johann Christian

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Johann Christian bäkh [key], 1735–82, German musician and composer; son of J. S. Bach. He went to Italy in 1754, became a Roman Catholic, and composed church music and operas. In 1760 he bec...

Bach, Johann Sebastian

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Johann Sebastian bäkh [key], 1685–1750, German composer and organist, b. Eisenach; one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Western world. He brought polyphonic baroque musi...

Bachofen, Johann Jakob

(Encyclopedia)Bachofen, Johann Jakob bäkōˈfən [key], 1815–87, Swiss legal historian and antiquarian. Bachofen studied in Berlin, Göttingen, Paris, and Cambridge, and accepted only honorary offices in order t...

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

(Encyclopedia)Lavater, Johann Kaspar yōˈhän käsˈpär läˈvätər, läväˈtər [key], 1741–1801, Swiss theologian and mystic. He wrote several books on metaphysics, but he is chiefly remembered for his work...

Kautsky, Karl Johann

(Encyclopedia)Kautsky, Karl Johann kärl yōˈhän koutˈskē [key], 1854–1938, German-Austrian socialist, b. Prague. A leading figure in the effort to spread Marxist doctrine in Germany, he was the principal dev...

Lambert, Johann Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Lambert, Johann Heinrich yōˈhän hīnˈrĭkh lämˈbĕrt [key], 1728–77, German-French philosopher and scientist, b. Alsace. He developed many basic concepts in mathematics, including that of the ...

Poggendorff, Johann Christian

(Encyclopedia)Poggendorff, Johann Christian yōˈhän krĭsˈtyän pôgˈəndôrfˌ [key], 1796–1877, German physicist and chemist. He founded (1824) and edited the important Annalen der Physik und Chemie and edi...

Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig or John Lewis bo͝orkˈhärt [key], 1784–1817, European explorer, b. Switzerland, educated in Germany. Supported by an English association for promoting African discovery,...

Böttger, Johann Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Böttger, Johann Friedrich yōˈhän frēˈdrĭkh bötˈgər [key], 1682–1719, German chemist and originator of Dresden china. When the Swedish invasion of Saxony occurred (1706), Böttger and his a...

Struensee, Johann Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Struensee, Johann Friedrich yōˈhän frēˈdrĭkh shtro͞oˈənzā, stro͞oˈ– [key], 1737–72, Danish politician, b. Germany. As physician to Christian VII he gained complete mastery over the ins...