The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Knigge, Adolphus Francis Frederic Louis, Baron de

KNIGGE, Adolphus Francis Frederic Louis, Baron de, German author: b. Brendenbeck, near Hanover, 16 Oct 1752; d. Bremen, 6 May 1796. In 1769 he went to the University of Göttingen, where he studied law, later became assessor at Cassel, in 1777 was made a chamberlain at Weimar, and finally in 1791, after leading a very unsettled life, became a resident of Bremen. Here he joined the Illuminati and later became implicated in the disputes relating to that secret order. Of his writings by far the most important is his ‘Ueber den Umgang mit Menschen’ (‘On Intercourse with Men’), which contains much good advice and a collection of upright methods of living so as to get the greatest joy and happiness at the same time being useful. Of his other works those most read were ‘Die Roman meines Lebens’ (1781-87); and ‘Die Reise nach Braunschweig’ (1792), a humorous romance; and ‘Des seligen Etatsrates von Schafskoff hinterlassene Papiere’ (1792). Consult Goedeke, ‘Adolf Freiherr Knigge’ (1844).