FEUCHTERSLEBEN, ERNST, FREIHERR VON (r806 1849), Austrian physician, poet and philosopher, was born in Vienna on April 29, 1806, of an old Saxon noble family. He was educated at the University of Vienna, and in 1844 was appointed dean of the faculty of medicine. In 1848, while refusing the presidency of the ministry of education, he accepted the appoint ment of under secretary of state in that department. He died in Vienna on Sept. 3, 1849. He was not only a clever physician, but a poet of fine aesthetical taste and a philosopher. Among his medical works may be mentioned : tfber das Hippokratische erste Buck von der Didt (Vienna, 1835), Arzte and Publicum (Vienna, 1848) and Lehrbuch der drztlichen Seelenkunde (1845) . His poetical works include Gedichte (Stutt, 1836), among which is the well-known beautiful hymn, which Mendelssohn set to music, "Es ist bestimmt in Gottes Rat." As a philosopher he is best known by his zur Didtetik der Seele [Dietetics of the Soul] (Vi enna, 1838). Noteworthy also is his Beitrage zur Litteratur 'Kunst and Lebenstheorie (Vienna, 1837-41), and an anthology, Geist der deutschen Klassiker (Vienna, 1851).
His collected works (with the exception of the purely medical ones) were published in 7 vols. by Fr. Hebbel (1851-53). See M. Necker, "Ernst von Feuchtersleben, der Freund Grillparzers," in the Jahrbuch der Grillparzer Gesellschaft, vol. iii. (1893).