Jean Baptista von Schweitzer
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Jean Baptista von Schweitzer (July 12, 1833 – July 28, 1875) was a German
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
and dramatic
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
and playwright.


Life and political career

Schweitzer was born at
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, of an old aristocratic
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
family. He studied
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
and
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, and afterwards practised in his native city. He was, however, generally more interested in politics and literature than law. Schweitzer was attracted by the social democratic movement, then led in Germany by Ferdinand Lassalle. Lassalle defended him from calls for his expulsion from the movement after he was convicted of a morals charge for homosexual activities in 1862, arguing that sexuality "ought to be left up to each person" whenever no one else is harmed.Detlef Grumbach, "Die Linke und das Laster," in Detlef Grumbach ed., ''Die Linke und das Laster'' (Hamburg: Männerschwarm, 1995), 21. After Lasalle's death in 1864 Schweitzer became president of the
General German Workers' Association The General German Workers' Association (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein, ADAV) was a German political party founded on 23 May 1863 in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony by Ferdinand Lassalle. It was the first organized mass working-class ...
(german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein, ADAV). The ADAV began fracturing soon thereafter, as disputes over whether to cooperate with Otto von Bismarck's government led
Wilhelm Liebknecht Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht (; 29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German socialist and one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).August Bebel founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SDAP) in 1869. Schweitzer edited the '' Sozialdemokrat'', which brought him into frequent trouble with the
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n government. In 1867 he was elected to the parliament of the North German Federation. In 1868, he coined the term " democratic centralization" to describe the structure of his organization. On his failure to secure election to the German Reichstag in 1871, he resigned the presidency of the ADAV and retired from political life. The ADAV later merged with the SDAP at the
Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...
Congress in 1875 to form the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SAPD) He died in Switzerland in 1875.


Works

Schweitzer composed a number of dramas and comedies, of which several for a while had considerable success. Among them may be mentioned: *'' Alcibiades (Frankfurt, 1858) *''Friedrich Barbarossa'' (Frankfurt, 1858) *''Canossa'' (Berlin, 1872) *''Die Darwinianer'' (Frankfurt, 1875) *''Die Eidechse'' (Frankfurt, 1876) *''Epidemisch'' (Frankfurt, 1876) He also wrote one political novel, ''Lucinde oder Kapital und Arbeit'' (Frankfurt, 1864).


References

;Attribution * 1833 births 1875 deaths 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers 19th-century LGBT people 19th-century poets Burials at Frankfurt Main Cemetery Gay politicians German gay writers General German Workers' Association politicians German LGBT poets German male poets German poets Humboldt University of Berlin alumni LGBT nobility LGBT politicians from Germany People prosecuted under anti-homosexuality laws Politicians from Frankfurt {{Germany-poet-stub