FORSTER, GEORG , German traveller and author, was born at Nassenhuben, a small village near Danzig, on Nov. His father, Johann Reinhold Forster, was com missioned in 1765 by the empress Catherine to inspect the Ger man colonies in the province of Saratov; later he went to Eng land, where he taught natural history and the modern languages at the Warrington nonconformist academy. He lost this appoint ment, and for two years he and his son earned a precarious liveli hood by translations in London. The turning point in Georg's career came in the shape of an invitation for him and his father to accompany Captain Cook in his second voyage round the world. Forster's account of Cook's voyage (A Voyage Round the World, London, 1777; in German, Berlin, 1778-80), is almost the first example of the modern scientific travel book. From 1778 to 1784 he was professor of natural history at Cassel. There he formed an intimate friendship with the anatomist Sommerring, and made the acquaintance of Jacobi, who induced in him a temporary leaning towards mysticism. He married Therese Heyne, a clever and cultivated woman. He then spent four years as a professor at Vilna, and in 1788 became librarian to the elector of Mainz. A keen sympathizer with the French revolution he actively pro moted the incorporation of the left bank of the Rhine with France and in 1793 went to Paris to carry on the negotiations. Meanwhile, however, the Germans seized Mainz, and Forster— already disheartened by the turn of events in France—was cut off from all return. Domestic sorrows were added to his political troubles and he died suddenly at Paris on Jan. io, Forster's masterpiece is his Ansichten vom Niederrhein, von Brabant, Flandern, Holland, England and Frankreich , one of the ablest books of travel of the 18th century. His correspondence was published by his wife (2 vols., Leipzig, 2829) ; his Briefwechsel mit Sommerring, by H. Hettner (Brunswick, 1877) . See J. Moleschott, G. Forster, der Naturforscher des Volks (18S4, 3rd. ed. 1874) ; K. Kerstner, Ein europaischer Revolutiondr, Georg Forster, (192 1) ; W. Langewiesche, Georg Forster (1923) .