Gustav Struve
Gustav Struve | |
---|---|
Austro-Hungarian Empire | |
Occupation(s) | Surgeon, politician, lawyer and publicist |
Spouse |
Gustav Struve, known as Gustav von Struve[1] until he gave up his title (11 October 1805 – 21 August 1870), was a German surgeon, politician, lawyer and publicist, and a revolutionary during the German revolutions of 1848–1849 in Baden, Germany. He also spent over a decade in the United States and was active there as a reformer.
Early years
Struve was born in Munich the son of a Russian diplomat
In Baden, Struve also entered politics by standing up for the liberal members of the Baden parliament in news articles. His point of view headed more and more in a radical democratic, early socialist direction. As editor of the Mannheimer Journal , he was repeatedly condemned to imprisonment. He was compelled in 1846 to retire from the management of this paper.[2] In 1845, Struve married Amalie Düsar on 16 November 1845 and in 1847 he dropped the aristocratic "von" from his surname due to his democratic ideals.
He also gave attention to phrenology, and published three books on the subject.[2]
Pre-revolutionary period
During
The revolution begins
Along with
When the revolution broke out, Struve published a demand for a federal republic, to include all Germany, but this was rejected by "Pre-Parliament" (Vorparlament), the meeting of politicians and other important German figures which later became the Frankfurt Parliament.
Dreams of a federal Germany
Struve wanted to spread his radical dreams for a federal Germany across the country, starting in southwest Germany, and accompanied by Hecker and other revolutionary leaders. They organised the meeting of a revolutionary assembly in
Hecker and Struve fled to
May Uprising in Baden
Struve was freed during the May Uprising in Baden in 1849.
Post-revolutionary life
Gustav Struve, along with other revolutionaries, managed to escape execution, fleeing to exile, first in Switzerland and then in 1851 to the US.
In the USA, Struve lived for a time in Philadelphia.[3] He edited Der Deutsche Zuschauer (The German Observer) in New York City, but soon discontinued its publication because of insufficient support. He wrote several novels and a drama in German, and then in 1852 undertook, with the assistance of his wife, the composition of a universal history from the standpoint of radical republicanism. The result, Weltgeschichte (World History), was published in 1860.[2] It was the major literary product of his career and the result of 30 years of study.[4] From 1858 to 1859, he edited Die Sociale Republik.[5]
He also promoted German public schools in New York City. In 1856, he supported
Return to Germany
He never became naturalized since he felt his primary objective was to battle the despots of Europe.[9] In 1863, a general amnesty was issued to all those who had been involved in the revolutions in Germany, and Struve returned to Germany. His first wife had died in Staten Island in 1862.[2] Back in Germany, he married a Frau von Centener.[5] Lincoln appointed him U. S. consul at Sonneberg in 1865, but the Thuringian states refused to issue his exequatur[2] due to his radical writings.[5] On 21 August 1870 he died in Vienna where he had settled in 1869.[5]
Vegetarianism
Struve was a leading figure in the initial stage of the German vegetarian movement. He had become a vegetarian in 1832 under the influence of Rousseau's treatise Émile.[10]
Struve authored the first German vegetarian-themed novel, Mandaras Wanderungen in 1833.[11] He founded the Vegetarische Gesellschaft Stuttgart (Stuttgart Vegetarian Society) in 1868.[11] He wrote the vegetarian book Pflanzenkost, in 1869.[11] Historian Corinna Treitel has noted that Struve linked "vegetarianism to republican self governance."[10]
Works
- Politische Briefe (Mannheim, 1846)
- Das öffentliche Recht des deutschen Bundes (2 vols., 1846)
- Grundzüge der Staatswissenschaft (4 vols., Frankfort, 1847–48)
- Geschichte der drei Volkserhebungen in Baden (Bern, 1849)
- Weltgeschichte (6 vols., New York, 1856–59; 7th ed., with a continuation, Coburg, 1866–69)
- Das Revolutionszeitalter (New York, 1859–60)
- Diesseits und jenseits des Oceans (Coburg, 1864-'5)
- Kurzgefasster Wegweiser für Auswanderer (Bamberg, 1867)
- Pflanzenkost die Grundlage einer neuen Weltanschauung (Stuttgart, 1869)
- Das Seelenleben, oder die Naturgeschichte des Menschen (Berlin, 1869)
- Eines Fürsten Jugendliebe, a drama (Vienna, 1870)
His wife Amalie published:
- Erinnerungen aus den badischen Freiheitskämpfen (Hamburg, 1850)
- Historische Zeitbilder (3 vols., Bremen, 1850)
References
Citations
- ^ "The Mysterious Dr. Struve". Shrunken Bodies Website. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- ^ Wittke 1952, p. 64.
- ^ Wittke 1952, pp. 315–316.
- ^ a b c d e Adolf Edward Zucker (1964). "Struve, Gustav". Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. IX, Part 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 158–159.
- ^ Wittke 1952, p. 227.
- ^ Wittke 1952, p. 233.
- ^ Wittke 1952, pp. 194–195.
- ^ Wittke 1952, p. 206.
- ^ a b Treitel 2017, pp. 42–43.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-37556-9
Sources
- Treitel, Corinna (2017). Eating Nature in Modern Germany: Food, Agriculture and Environment, c.1870 to 2000. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316946312.
- Wittke, Carl (1952). Refugees of Revolution: The German Forty-Eighters in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. JSTOR j.ctv4s7m9n.
External links
- Gustav Struve as Jewish Rights Activist
- The Democrats: Gustav von Struve: Motion in the German Pre-Parliament (March 31, 1848)
- Gustav Von Struve, from The Ethics of Diet, by Howard Williams
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
|