GENTZ, Friedrich von, German statesman: b. Breslau, 1764; d. 1832. He was educated at Frankfort and Konigsberg and in 1786 was ap pointed secretary of the General Directory and in 1793 became war councilor of Prussia. At first a follower of Rousseau and Kant he was in favor of the great popular movement in France, but was soon diverted from this course by the writings of Burke, Mallet du Pan and Mounier. A stay in England made him a strong advocate of the constitutional system of that country. He founded the Neue Deutsche Motiatsschrift in 1795 and. after its demise in 1798 the Historisches Journal. In the latter he attacked the Revolution so persist ently that he was obliged to leave the country. In 1802 he became Imperial councilor, in Aus tria and bitterly opposed Napoleon. He wrote several proclamations against the French. Sub sequently he supported Metternich's policy and in 1818 founded the Wiener Jahrbiicher der Litteratur. In 1815 he served as secretary to the Austrian plenipotentiaries at the Congress of Vienna and at the subsequent conferences of Aix4a-Cbapelle, Troppau, Laibach, and Ver ona. He led a dissipated life and squandered
his substance. His motives were seldom pure and were nearly always mercenary. His writ ings are contained in 'Ausgewihlte Schriften) edited by Weickz (5 vols., Stuttgart 1838) and in 'Kleine Schrif ten' edited. by Schlesier (5 vols., Mannheim 1840) and in et lettres> edited by Prokesch-Osten (4 vols., Vienna 1874). Consult 'Briefwechsel zwi schen Friedrich Gentz und Adam Muller 1800 29' (Stuttgart 1857) ; inedites du Chevalier de Gentz aux hospodars de Valachie 1819-28' (Paris 1876) ; Fournier, 'Gentz und Cobenzl) (Vienna 1880) ; Reiff, 'Friedrich Gentz, an opponent of the French Revolution and Napoleon' (Urbana, Ill., 1912) ; 'Friedrich Gentz and Heinrich von Sybil' (Gottingen 1913).