The New International Encyclopædia/Corvin-Wiersbitzki, Otto von

CORVIN-WIERSBITZKI, kôr'vḗn-vḗrs-bĭt'-skḗ, Otto von (1812-86). A German author, born at Gumbinnen. He took part in the revolutionary uprising in Baden in 1848 and 1849, and became chief of the General Staff of the Republican forces at Rastatt. He was condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to six years' solitary confinement. In 1855 he went to London, whence in 1861 he proceeded to the United States to act as the war correspondent of the Augsburg Allgemeine Zeitung. During the Franco-German War he was the correspondent of the Vienna Neue Freie Presse, and his experiences are admirably described in his well-known book, In France with the Germans (1872). In his earlier years Corvin devised ‘Corviniello,’ a species of metal-work inlaid with mother-of-pearl, stones, or other materials. His numerous historical and other writings include: Historische Denkmale des christlichen Fanatismus (1845), the second edition of which appeared under the title Pfaffenspiegel (1869), and was further supplemented by Die Geissler (3d ed., 1892-93). Consult his Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben (4th ed., Rudolstadt, 1890-92).