Feuerbach Paul Johann Anselmvon

Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm von (1775-1833), a German jurist, especially in the department of Criminal Law, was born at Jena, where his education began, to be continued later at Frankfort. At the age of 17 he entered the University of Jena, and after devoting himself for a time to philosophy he abandoned this for jurisprudence. He took his doctor's degree in philosophy in 1795, and in law in 1799. In this year he began to lecture at Jena, having already, in 1796, published a Critique of Natural Law. He then produced several works upon the theory of punishments and crimes. In 1802 he was appointed a professor at Kiel, and undertook the task of drawing up a criminal code for Bavaria, which was adopted in 1813, and became the base of several other codes. In 1817 he was nominated second president of one appeal court and first president of another. He interested himself much in Kaspar Hauser. Among his works are Remarkable Criminal Trials (2 vols.), and Contributions to the Art of Law-mal/iny. His son wrote a biography of him (1852).