Joseph Johann Baptist Andreas von Zerboni di Sposetti (23 May 1766 – 23 May 1831) was a German philosopher.

Biography

In 1796, he wrote to the governor of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

a letter in which he set forth the absurdity of granting to the nobility exalted privileges through right of birth. Knowledge of the letter reaching

Frederick William III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

, he was imprisoned for three years on a charge of high treason. When his case was brought to trial he was freed, with no political disability, and later received various official appointments.

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* * This source gives an excerpt of the offending letter, and says F. W. II ordered him to prison. * This gives the year of his birth as 1866. 1766 births 1831 deaths German philosophers German male writers Provincial Presidents of Posen {{Germany-philosopher-stub