Joseph von Sonnenfels
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n and German jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
and novelist. He was among the leaders of the Illuminati
Illuminati
The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
movement in Austria, and a close friend and patron of Mozart. He is also the dedicatee of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Piano Sonata No. 15, Op. 28
Piano Sonata No. 15 (Beethoven)
Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was named Pastoral or Pastorale by Beethoven's publisher at the time, A. Cranz. While nowhere near as widely recognised as its predecessor, the Piano Sonata No. 14, known often as the Moonlight Sonata, it is...
, which was published in 1801.
Life
He is a son of Perlin Lipmann (1705 - 1768), and brother of Franz Anton von Sonnenfels. Joseph, who was baptized in his early youth, received his elementary education at the gymnasiumGymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
of his native town Nikolsburg, and then studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
. In 1749, he joined the regiment "Deutschmeister" as a private, advancing to the rank of corporal. On his discharge in 1754, he took a course in law at the University of Vienna, then he established himself as a counselor at law in the Austrian capital. From 1761 to 1763, he officiated as secretary of the Austrian "Arcierengarde". In 1763, he was appointed professor of political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at the University of Vienna, twice acting as rector magnificus. In 1779, he received the title of "Wirklicher Hofrath", and was in 1810 elected president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Academy of Sciences
Academy of Sciences
An Academy of Sciences is a national academy or another learned society dedicated to sciences.In non-English speaking countries, the range of academic fields of the members of a national Academy of Science often includes fields which would not normally be classed as "science" in English...
, a position which he held until his death.
From 1765 to 1767 and from 1769 to 1775 Sonnenfels was editor of "Der Mann ohne Vorurtheil", in which paper he defended the liberal tendencies in literature. He improved the Vienna stage especially through his critical work Briefe über die Wienerische Schaubühne, in which he attacked the harlequin
Harlequin
Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
of the Vienna theater, causing this figure to be eliminated from the personnel of the stage.
He was chiefly instrumental in bringing about the abolition of torture in Austria (1776). Sonnenfels' attitude toward Lessing
Lessing
Lessing - German family of writers and artists*Johann Gottfried Lessing pastor primarus in Kamenz, well respected, published theologian, translator and father of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Karl Gotthelf Lessing...
placed the former in a very unfavorable light, as it was due to his intrigues and jealousy that Lessing was not called to Vienna. Sonnenfels was severely condemned for his action in this affair.
He is also the dedicatee of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Piano Sonata No. 15, Op. 28
Piano Sonata No. 15 (Beethoven)
Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was named Pastoral or Pastorale by Beethoven's publisher at the time, A. Cranz. While nowhere near as widely recognised as its predecessor, the Piano Sonata No. 14, known often as the Moonlight Sonata, it is...
, which was published in 1801.
Literary works
Among Sonnenfels' many works may be mentioned:- "Specimen Juris Germanici de Remediis Juris, Juri Romano Incognitis," Vienna, 1757;
- "Ankündigung einer Teutschen Gesellschaft in Wien," ib. 1761;
- "Betrachtungen über die Neuen Politischen Handlungsgrundsätze der Engländer," ib. 1764;
- "Grundsätze der Polizei, Handlung und Finanzwissenschaft," ib. 1765–67 (8th ed. 1819);
- "Briefe über die Wienerische Schaubühne," ib. 1768 (reedited by Sauer, ib. 1884);
- "Von der Verwandlung der Domänen in Bauerngüter," ib. 1773;
- "Ueber die Abschaffung der Tortur," Zurich, 1775 (2d ed. Nuremberg, 1782);
- "Abhandlung über die Aufhebung der Wuchergesetze," Vienna, 1791;
- "Handbuch der Innern Staatsverwaltung," ib. 1798
- "Ueber die Stimmenmehrheit bei Criminalurtheilen," Vienna, 1801 (2d ed. 1808)
His Gesammelte Werke appeared in 10 volumes (Vienna, 1783–87), and contained most of his belletristic works, poems, and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
s.