HOFER, ANDREAS, the patriotic leader of the Tyrolese, was b. at St. Leonard, in the valley of Passeyr, Nov. 22, 1767. In 1796 he led a body of Tyrolese against the French on the lake of Garda; in 1808 secret deputies, among whom was Hofer. arrived at Vienna, to represent to the archduke John the suffering,s of the people, and their wish to be reunited to Austria. By the desire of the archduke, baron von lIormayr sketched for them a plan of an insurrection, which met with such success that, hi three days, from the 11th to the 13th of April, 1809, nearly the whole country was liberated. Napoleon, however, was victorious in Austria, and at once marched three armies to the Tyrol, to subdue the rebellious peasantry, who had been abandoned by the Austrians. in accordance with the armistice of Znaim (July 12, 1809). At first, Hofer concealed himself in a cave in the valley of Passeyr; but when Spechbacher, Joachim Haspinger, a Capuchin, and Peter Mayer, at time head of the armed population, renewed the defense of the Tyrol, and repeatedly defeated the enemy. Hofer issued from his retreat, and
took the leadership of the Tyrolese. At the battle fought on Aug. 12 on the Iselberg, Lefebvre was driven from the Tyrol. Hofer continued to conduct the civil and mili tary administration till the peace of Vienna (Oct. 14). The French and Bavarians poured, for the third or fourth time, into the country, and after a brief gg.e was obliged to take refuge in concealment. After a lapse of two months. he was 'betrayed into the hands of the French by a priest named Donny, conveyed to Mantua, tried, and condemned to be shot. The sentence was carried into execution oe Feb. 20, 1810. His family were indemnified for the loss of their property by the emperor of Austria in 1819, and his son ennobled. A statue of Hofer, executed by Schaller, was erected in 1834 in the church of the Franciscans, at Innsbrrick, near the tomb of the emperor Maximilian I.