Cagliostro, Alessandro Conte di (Giuseppe Balsamo) (1743–95): A charlatan alchemist, occultist, and swindler who plied his deceptions at various European courts (St. Petersburg, whence he was expelled, Warsaw, Strasbourg, London, Paris). Implicated in the scandal involving the necklace of Marie Antoinette in Paris, for which he was imprisoned and deported. Appears in Schiller’s Der Geisterseher (1789) and Goethe’s Der Gross-Cophta (1791) (in the latter as Count Rostro). (Portrait: frontispiece to William Rutherford Hayes Trowbridge, Cagliostro: The Splendor and Misery of a Master of Magic [New York 1910].)
Calderon de la Barca (1600–81): Prolific Spanish playwright and poet, author of comedies, operas, and allegorical religious plays.
Calvin, John (Jean) (1509–64): French theologian and Reformer, went over to Protestantism and left Paris in 1534, settled in Basel in Switzerland, publishing his famous Institutes of the Christian Religion 1536, moving then to Geneva, where he tried to establish a theocratic government. Although he was expelled in 1538 and spent several years in Strasbourg, he returned to Geneva in 1541 and organized the Reformed Church based on the Lutheran notion of justification by grace alone but with special emphasis on predestination. He set up an essentially theocratic government in Geneva.
Camoëns, Luis de (1524–80): Portuguese writer of plays and poetry who led a rather colorful and adventurous life. Best remembered for his history of Portugal, the epic poem Os Luciadas (1572), which focuses especially on the role of the explorer Vasco da Gama.
Campe, Dorothea Marie, née Hiller (1741 [43?]–1827): Native of Berlin, from 1773 wife of Joachim Heinrich Campe in Braunschweig.
Campe, Elisabeth (Elise), née Hoffmann (1786–1873): Biographer, native of Hamburg. Daughter of Benjamin Gottlob Hoffmann, from 1806 wife of August Campe, Hamburg publishers and booksellers. Elise Campe published, among other things, a history of extraordinary events in Hamburg during 1813 and 1814 (1814), and biographies of Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Meyer (1847), Johann Diederich Gries (1855), and Johann Nicholas Böhl von Faber (1858). Headed an association of women for supporting the men fighting during the Napoleonic wars in Hamburg.
Campe, Joachim Heinrich (1746–1818): Educator, publisher, writer, linguist, married to Dorothea Marie, née Hiller. One of the two “literary” families in Braunschweig with whom Caroline socialized during her stay there in 1795–96. Campe studied theology and philosophy in Helmstedt and Halle before becoming private tutor to Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt in Berlin. After a time at the Philanthropinum in Dessau, at the time the most famous educational institution in Germany, he founded his own institution in Hamburg in 1777 after the model of Rousseau’s Emile and began publishing books on the education of youth. His Robinson der Jüngere (1779/80), a free adaptation of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, gained him worldwide fame. In 1786 he became an educational official in Braunschweig, continued publishing pedagogical works, and worked on a dictionary of the German language (5 vols., 1807–12). Also published several writings advocating doing away with teaching French and instead freeing German from foreign influence (Wörterbuch der Erklärung und Verdeutschung der unserer Sprache aufgedrungenen fremden Ausdücke, 2 vols. [Braunschweig 1801]). His indefatigable efforts to replace foreign words in German with German equivalents prompted a measure of ridicule (e.g., in Schiller and Goethe’s Xenien). Representative in the larger sense of the pedagogical thinking of the Enlightenment. Father-in-law of the publisher Johann Friedrich Vieweg. (Portrait by Johann Heinrich Schroeder, in Gustav Könnecke, Bilderatlas zur Geschichte der deutschen Nationallitteratur, 2nd ed. [Marburg 1895], 338.)
Campetti, Francesco (dates unknown): Farmer from Gargnano on the western shore of Lake Garda in northern Italy. Allegedly learned from Joseph Pennet that he was capable of divining the presence of hidden water and metals. Later exposed as a swindler. Little seems to be known about his life apart from his appearances in Munich.
Cannabich, Josephine, née Woraleck) (17 August 1781–9 December 1830): A native of Brünn, singer and actress, daughter of the composer and musical director Niklas Woraleck, from whom she received her musical and singing instruction. At thirteen years of age, she moved to Frankfurt am Main to finish her training, thereafter traveling to Switzerland. After her return to Frankfurt, she was engaged as a singer in the theater, acquiring renown for her “magical voice” and beautiful, tasteful delivery and artful expression, all of which were allegedly enhanced by her “sublime figure” and noble demeanor (so Felix Joseph Lipowsky, Baierisches Musik-Lexikon [Munich 1811], 395–97, here 396.). From 1798 married to concert master and violinist Karl Cannabich (1769 [64?]–1 March 1806) in Frankfurt, with whom she then moved to Munich in 1800 when he succeeded his father, Christian Cannabich, as orchestral director. There she performed as a first donna in the royal theater, allegedly quite with the approval of the royal couple, and acquiring renown for her “silvery voice” (ibid.). May have moved with Karl Cannabich to Paris in 1805, but he died of nervous fever shortly after his return to Munich in 1806. Josephine herself apparently had to stop operatic singing in 1807 because of “weakness of the breast” from over-exertion, after which she performed solely as an actress, albeit covering a variety of roles and with no loss of popularity and esteem.
Carlowitz, Gustav von (dates unknown): Member of an old family from Saxon nobility, at the time of his friendship with Friedrich Schlegel employed at the high court in Leipzig.
Carlyle, Thomas (1795–1881): Scottish essayist and historian. Intended for the ministry but instead pursued literary work, including criticism, and studied German literature, publishing a biography of Schiller in 1825 and translating Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre in 1827. His writing was considerably influenced by German philosophy, e.g., Sartor Resartus (1833–34).
Carus, Friedrich August (1770–1807): Professor of philosophy in Leipzig. 1793–96 studied in Leipzig, 1796–1805 extraordinarius for philosophy in Leipzig, 1805–7 full professor, from 1795 also assistant pastor at the university church in Leipzig. Initially a Kantian, then dealt with various other philosophical, psychological, philological, historical, and theological subjects. The introduction to his posthumous collected works (1808) mentions that he was the first in Leipzig to speak about “Schelling and the most recent philosophy.”
Catel, Ludwig Friedrich (1776–1819): French architect. Catel designed private houses and contributed to work on the castles in both Braunschweig and Weimar, providing especially interior decorations such as mosaics. In 1801 he traveled to Weimar with his brother, the painter Franz Ludwig Catel, and in 1807 to Paris. Writings include works on improving theater edifices, on the construction of Protestant churches, and on steam heat. (Portrait: unknown artist and date; catalogued Bibliothèque nationale de France.)
Catherine II, the Great (Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst (1729–96): 1762–96 empress of Russia, from 1745 wife of Grand Duke Peter (later Peter III), whom she helped depose with the help of, among others, her lover, Grigory Orlov. Mother of Paul I of Russia. (Portrait: Zeitung für die elegante Welt [1805] no. 105 [31 August 1805].)
Cellini, Benvenuto (1500–71): Italian goldsmith and sculptor best known for his vivid and informative autobiography.
Cervantes y Saavedra, Don Miguel de (1547–1616): Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright, generally considered one of the leading literary figures of sixteenth-century Spain and of world literature generally, especially for his novel Don Quixote. Although Cervantes lived a nomadic life for a considerable time, from 1606 he remained in Madrid. (Portrait: frontispiece to M. Fernandez de Navarrete, The Life and Writings of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, trans. Thomas Roscoe [London 1839].)
Chamfort, Nicolas-Sébastian Roch (de) (1741–94): French writer, playwright, critic. Enjoyed considerable popularity and considered quite witty, admitted to the Académie in 1781 and received a pension. His bitterness and disillusionment with high society and continuing health problems are reflected in his Maximes, caractères et anecdotes, his most enduring work (published posthumously). Although a supporter of the Revolution, he became suspect during the Terror and attempted to take his own life.
Chamisso, Adelbert von (1781–1838): Poet, novelist, botanist. Born in France, family emigrated to Germany during the Revolution. In 1796 became a page to Queen Friederike Luise in Prussia, then was commissioned in the Prussian army (1798). Through Wilhelm Schlegel he became acquainted with Madame de Staël, spending time on her estate in Coppet in 1811–12, where he also engaged in botanical studies. In his story Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte (1814), a man sells his shadow to the devil. In Berlin he also became acquainted with the literary circle around Varnhagen von Emse and contributed to the resulting Musenalmanach auf das Jahr 1805, which Caroline reviewed. (Portrait: frontispiece to Karl Fulda, Chamisso und seine Zeit: Adelbert von Chamisso, Festschrift zur Säkular-Feier seiner Geburt [Leipzig 1881].)
Charlemagne (742–814): On Christmas Day 800 crowned Carolus Augustus, Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III after decades of military campaigns making him, first, king of the Franks and ultimately emperor of the West, uniting all the Germanic tribes under a single ruler. In 794 established his court at Aachen. His realm provided the framework of the later Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (1495–1806).
Charles V (Charles the Great) (1500–1558): Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 till 1556, king of Spain from 1516 till 1556. Reign was complicated by the Reformation, wars with France, and Turkish threat. In 1521 Charles presided over the Diet of Worms (Luther’s appearance); he was otherwise unsuccessful in reuniting Catholics and Protestants. Was elected emperor over Francis I of France, fought with France 1521–44, taking Francis I prisoner in 1525 after French defeat at Pavia. Abdicated and withdrew to a monastery in Spain in 1557.
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744–1818): From 8 September 1761 queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III, with whom she had fifteen children.
Charlotte of Saxony-Hildburghausen (1787–1847): Eldest daughter of Duke Friedrich of Saxony-Hildburghausen and allegedly quite beautiful. From 28 September 1805 married to Prince Paul of Württemberg, though they separated in 1818, after which she returned to Hildburghausen.
Charpentier, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Toussaint von (1738–1805): Father of Julie von Charpentier, geologist, senior mining official and professor of mathematics, drawing, mechanics, and physics at the mining academy in Freiberg from 1766. Published the first detailed geological map of Saxony (1778). (Portrait: presumably by Anton Graff; no longer extant.)
Charpentier, Johanna Dorothea Wilhelmine, née von Zobel (1749–1801): From 1768 married to Johann Friedrich Wilhelm von Charpentier; mother of Julie von Charpentier, who was the second fiancée of Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis).
Charpentier, Julie (Juliana, Juliette) von (1776–1811): Youngest daughter (of four) of Johann Friedrich von Charpentier; from December 1798 fiancée of Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis). Later, however, married Karl Podmanitzky, Baron of Aszód and Podmanin (Hungary), following him back to his estate in Schemnitz, where she died in 1811. (Portrait: by Dora Stock.)
Charpentier, Karoline (dates unknown): Younger sister of Julie and Wilhelmine von Charpentier; gifted painter, remained unmarried, seems to have lived later with her elder married sister Wilhelmine and the latter’s husband, Johann Adolf Thielemann, Wilhelmine being ill at the time.
Charpentier, Wilhelmine von (1772–1842): Sister of Julie von Charpentier, hence Friedrich von Hardenberg’s future sister-in-law after his engagement to Julie; from 1791 married to Johann Adolf Thielemann.
Chateaubriand, François-Auguste-René de (1768–1848): French writer and statesman; had a varied military and diplomatic career, including under Napoleon, also traveled extensively and was even ambassador to Berlin, Great Britain, and in Rome, but also viewed as the father of French Romanticism, influencing not only French writers, but also those abroad, including Byron.
Cherubini, Luigi (1760–1842): Italian composer. Music director in Paris at the royal chapel of Louis XVIII, director of Paris conservatory. Prolific composer of operas, whose overall form he also influenced. Also composed sacred music and cantatas.
(Chesterfield) Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield (1755–1815): Third cousin once removed and godson of Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773); when the latter’s son died in 1768, he adopted his godson, also named Philip Stanhope, as heir to the title and estates. Philip Dormer Stanhope pursued various literary interests but is best known for his letters to his son Philip and, later, to this godson (and adopted son) discussing etiquette and the worldly arts. Lord Chesterfield (godson) studied for a time in Leipzig and was also a guest at the Weimar court.
Chodowiecki, Daniel Nikolaus (1726–1801): Most successful and popular German engraver, graphic artist, and illustrator during the eighteenth century. From 1743 in Berlin, where he initially did fashion illustrations and received formal artistic training with his cousin, with whom from 1754 he established an independent business in Berlin. His initial successes came as an illustrator in contemporary almanacs and calendars, then especially in copper engravings, including the works of Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller and in translations of Oliver Goldsmith, Cervantes, and Tobias Smollett. Chodowiecki kept up with the quantity of work by employing some of the best artists in the area in his studio. From 1764 member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Fine Arts. (Portrait: after a painting by Anton Graff, in Zweihundert deutsche Männer in Bildnissen und Lebensbeschreibungen, ed. Ludwig Bechstein [Leipzig 1854], unpaginated [alphabetical] entry on Daniel Chodowiecki.)
Christian VIII Friedrich (1786–1848): 1839–48 King of Denmark, briefly also King of Norway (1814).
Cicero, Marcus Tillius (106–42 BCE): Most influential Roman prose writer, studied philosophy, rhetoric, and law, became consul in 63 BCE. His writings later influenced ethics, epistemology, political thought, oratory, as well as epistolary and literary style; generally known as a master of rhetoric.
Cimarosa, Domenico (1749–1801): Italian composer, worked 1787–91 as a composer and conductor in St. Petersburg, 1791–92 as imperial conductor in Vienna, 1796–99 as royal organist in Naples, 1799–1800 imprisoned as a revolutionary. Works include operas, oratorios, sacred music, secular cantatas, and keyboard pieces.
Claproth, Justus (1728–1805): Jurist in Göttingen who worked together with a nearby printer to determine how to use paper from printed books to produce new paper by dissolving the printer’s ink (essentially recylcling). From 1759 professor in Göttingen. Presumably Caroline’s reference in her letter of 21 January 1802 (letter 242) in connection with a loan.
Claudius, Matthias (1740–1815): Journalist, poet, translator. Took over editorship of the Wandsbecker Bothe in 1771 and turned it into a popular and original journal with a tolerant Lutheran direction oriented toward Enlightenment thinking. The collection of his own contributions to the journal in several independent volumes (Asmus omnia sua secum portans), which he continued until 1812 (8 total volumes), established his fame in Germany. Maintained contact with many of Germany’s literary personages, including Friedrich Nicolai, Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, Princess Amalie von Gallitzin, Johann Kaspar Lavater, Johann Heinrich Voss, Heinrich Christian Boie, Johann Georg Hamann, and others, and was also acquainted with Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder. Viewed variously as the father of German popular journalism. (Portrait by Friederike Margarethe Elisabeth Leisching.)
Cleve, Anton Gabriel Christian (1720–95?): From July 1765 till May 1795 bailiff in Weende north of Göttingen, having succeeded his father in that office after serving fifteen years in a similar capacity in Barsinghausen. From 1783 he received the title of senior bailiff. Though he wanted his son to succeed him just as he had succeeded his father, he was succeeded instead on 1 May 1795 by Christian Friedrich Gotthard Westfeld, whose daughter married Friedrich Bouterwek in 1806.
Clinton, Henry (1730–95): British army officer and politician best known for his service as a general during the American Revolutionary War, during most of which (from May 1778) he was the British commander-in-chief in North America.
Colbert, Jean Baptiste, Marquis de Torcy (1665–1746): Nephew of the famous statesman Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619–83); 1699–1715 secretary of state for foreign affairs in of France.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772–1834): English writer and critic, friend of Robert Southey and William and Dorothy Wordsworth, prolific poet, visited Germany 1798–99, where he became familiar with Schelling’s thought, translated two of Schiller’s plays in 1800 (Die Piccolomini, Wallenstein).
Collot d’Herbois, Jean-Marie (1749–96): Actor, French revolutionary, from 1791 a Jacobin, from 1792 member of the Convention, favored abolishing the monarchy, 1793–95 on the Committee of Public Safety that hunted down Royalists, though also involved in the conspiracy against Robespierre. Eventually exiled to French Guiana.
Condorcet, Antoine-Nicolas de (1743–94): French mathematician, philosopher, politician. Long the secretary of the Académie des Sciences and member of the Académie Française. Wrote a biography of Voltaire (1787) and edited Pascal’s Pensées (1776). His most important work was the treatise on political philosophy Esquisse d’un Tableau historique des progrès de l’esprit humain (written 1793–94, published 1795) detailing the various stages or epochs of human history leading to an improved future condition. Although a supporter of the Revolution, he was proscribed as a Girondin and later took poison to avoid the guillotine.
Configliacchi, Pietro Abate (1777–1844): Professor of experimental physics in Pavia.
Constant de Rebecque, Henri-Benjamin (Benjamin Constant) (1767–1830): French writer, politician, polemist. Long a companion of Madame de Staël, whose exile during Napoleon’s reign he shared and who maintained a complex hold on him for seventeen years that not even his marriage to another woman (Georgine Charlotte Auguste von Marenholtz, née von Hardenberg, whom he married on 5 June 1808) could break (though he did serve Napoleon during the Hundred Days). Published his most famous work, the novel Adolphe, in 1816, returning to France and enjoying a long political career till his death. In his Journal intime (1895; fuller edition in 1952) variously mentions Wilhelm Schlegel, whose time at Coppet and travels with Madame de Staël coincided considerably with that of Constant. (Portrait: frontispiece to Benjamin Constant, Journal intime de Benjamin Constant et lettres a sa famille est a ses amis, ed. D. Melegari [Paris 1895].)
Conta, Wilhelmine (Minchen) (born 1790): Sister of the Weimar diplomat and librarian Karl Friedrich Anton von Conta from Erfurt (1778–1850) (rather than his daughter, as in Erich Schmidt. [1913], 619). Was brought up in Weimar in the house of Johanne Caroline Ludecus, née Kotzebue, sister of August von Kotzebue. Minchen later married the Weimar philologist and Gymnasium professor Ferdinand Gotthelf Hand (1786–1851), with whom she seems to have had an extremely happy marriage and who described her as an “extremely cultivated woman” with an “excellent heart and mind”; others describe her as “pretty” and “unaffected.” Although the couple lost three children, including as adults, the youngest of their three daughters married Ernst Rietschel, the Dresden sculptor who fashioned the Goethe and Schiller monument in Weimar. (Biographical information Joachim Ringelnatz, Ringelnatz: Ein Dichter malt seine Welt [Göttingen 2000], 16; Neuer Nekrolog der Deutschen, vol. 29:1851 [Weimar 1853].)
Conz, Karl (Carl) Philipp (1762–1827): Educated at the seminary in Tübingen, where as a later tutor (1788–92) he became acquainted with Schelling, Hegel, and Friedrich Hölderlin; from 1804 professor of classics in Tübingen. Also a poet, he was early acquainted with Schiller , whom he visited in Jena in 1792. His translation of Aeschylus appeared in 1811.
Cook, James (1728–79): English merchant seaman and explorer, from 1768 on a expedition to the South Pacific, including Tahiti, in his ship Endeavor, also visiting New Zealand, Australia, and New Guinea, returning around the Cape of Good Hope in 1771. Second expedition in 1772–75 ventured much farther south, then visited Tahiti again. Third and final expedition 1776–78 seeking a passage around North America from the Pacific, charting Pacific coast of North America and visiting Hawaii.
Corday d’Armont, Charlotte (1768–93): On 13 July 1793 she managed to get into the chambers of Jean-Paul Marat and assassinated him with a knife in his bath out of revenge for the fall of the Girondins party. Guillotined on 17 July.
Corneille, Pierre (1606–84): French playwright and one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. Sometimes called “the founder of French tragedy.” His plays, which he produced for nearly forty years, are characterized by great tragic roles, stylistic grandeur, and lofty ethical views.
Cornelia (also Cornelia Africana): From the Roman line of Scipio, a line that during the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.E. helped establish Rome’s preeminent position. Cornelia herself was the mother of the Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius. As a widow, she devoted herself entirely to raising her sons. She was one of the most highly gifted and cultivated of Roman women, and, indeed, was extolled as the model Roman woman. Two lengthy fragments allegedly from her hand have been preserved.
Cornwallis, Charles (1738–1805): British military commander and colonial governor. In connection with the American Revolution, he is remembered especially as one of the leading British generals; his 1781 defeat by a combined Franco-American force at the Siege of Yorktown is generally considered the de facto end of the war, as the bulk of British troops surrendered with Cornwallis.
Correggio, Antonio Allegri da (1489–1534): Foremost painter of the Parma school of the Italian Renaissance during the sixteenth century whose innovations in depicting space and movement anticipated the baroque style. His canvases are characterized by sensuous nude figures, colors that have a cool, silvery sheen, great skill in foreshortening, and originality of perspective. About forty of his canvases exist, all of which represent religious and mythological subjects. It is still not known which canvas Caroline may have seen at Söder in October 1800.
Cortona, Pietro da (1596–1669): Baroque Italian painter and architect, known esp. for his frescoes and church designs, also of religious and mythological paintings.
Costenoble, Carl Ludwig (1769–1837): Actor, playwright, director. Originally trained for the ministry but fled, thereafter joining various itinerant theater companies before debuting in Hamburg in March 1801 (i.e., just before Caroline’s arrival there for her visit), where he performed until 1818. Famous for performing, among others, the role of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. From 1818 in Vienna.
Cotta (von Cottendorf), Johann Friedrich (1764–1832): Printer and publisher. Received his law degree in Tübingen and, after returning to Stuttgart from a period of study in Paris, bought his father’s publishing firm, the J. G. Cottasche Buchhandlung (founded 1659), quickly establishing it as one of the premier publishing companies in Germany. Began an association with Schiller in 1794, publishing the latter’s Die Horen (1795–97), and with Goethe, publishing the latter’s Propyläen (1798–1800), and was from 1802 the sole publisher of Schiller’s works, from 1806 of Goethe’s. Maintained contacts with virtually all the major literary figures of the period, also publishing the complete works of such figures as Johann Gottfried Herder and Schelling and at least some of the works of Friedrich Hölderlin, Heinrich von Kleist, and many others, paying handsome honoraria and advances and also maintaining cordial personal relationships with his authors. Cotta also published many of the major journals of the time, including the Allgemeine Zeitung (originally called Neueste Weltkunde), which became the leading political journal in Germany; the daily Morgenblatt für gebildete Stände (1807–65), as well as others. Also known for his philanthropic views (abolition of serfdom on his estates). (Portrait by Karl Jakob Theodor Leybold.)
Coudenhoven, Countess Sophie von, née von Hatzfeldt (1747–1825): Wife of Georg Ludwig von Coudenhoven (&dagger 1786), the latter eventually a privy councilor in Mainz. The Mainz prince elector Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal was a cousin of Sophie von Coudenhoven’s mother. After he became Prince Elector of Mainz in 1774, Sophie von Coudenhoven’s moved to Mainz, living in one of the royal residence complexes, though her exact relationship with Erthal is not really known (counselor, confidante, mistress). In any event, she and a circle of other women at court (known as the femmes électorales à Mayence) exercised considerable influence on the prince elector’s decisions, Sophie herself allegedly being the most influential.
Cramer (Kramer), Karl (Carl) Friedrich (1752–1807): Studied theology in Göttingen, where he was an original member of the Göttinger Hainbund poets’ society. Appointed professor of Greek and ancient languages and homiletics in Kiel in 1775 (full professor 1780), though he was dismissed and banished in 1794 because of his support for the French Revolution. Lived thereafter in Paris as a publisher, bookseller, translator, and minor writer, also contributing to Matthias Claudius’s Wandsbecker Bothe. In one xenion he is compared with Anacharsis Clootz (from Cleve), who had made a name for himself as a revolutionary in Paris but then ended beneath the guillotine:
235. Anacharsis II. From Anacharsis I you extracted a head; Anacharsis II Now wanders sans head, and wisely, to you, O Parisians
Crébillon, Prosper Jolyot, Sieur de (1674–1762): French tragic playwright of sometimes violent, melodramatic pieces.
Creuzer, Friedrich (1771–1858): Classical philologist. Professor in Marburg and Heidelberg. Advanced the theory that Greek mythology derived from the East. Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Völker, 4 vols. (1810–12). Fell in love with Karoline von Günderode (1780–1806) but decided not to divorce his wife, whereupon Karoline committed suicide.
Cullen, William (1710–90): Scottish physician, chemist and agriculturalist, professor at the Edinburgh Medical School under whom John Brown studied.
Cumberland, Richard (1732–1811): English writer, author of several successful sentimental comedies, including The West Indian (1771), as well as tragedies, two novels, and a translation of Aristophanes’ Clouds.
Custine, Adam Philippe de (1740–93): French general. Served in the Seven Years War and against the English in the American War of Independence. Elected to the Estates General in 1789, rejoined the army in October 1791 (lieutenant general). As commander in chief of the army of the Vosges, he took Speyer, Worms, Mainz, and Frankfurt in the fall of 1792. After the Prussians retook both Mainz and Frankfurt during the winter, he fell back across the Rhine and was accused of treason. Although he was released and rejoined the campaign, he fared poorly in the battle for Condé, was tried in Paris for having cooperated with the enemy, and guillotined in August 1793. (Portrait: Gazette Nationale ou Le Moniteur Universel [1793] 145 [Saturday, 25 May 1793], in: Réimpression de l’ancien moniteur, vol. 16 [Paris 1840], plate following p. 460.)
Cuvier, Georges (1769–1832): French zoologist and paleontologist whose investigations of the structure of living and fossil animals essentially founded the sciences of comparative anatomy and paleontology.