Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/43

ACH ACHILLES TA´TIUS, the writer of an interesting Greek romance. It is not certain at what period he lived, but the most probable conjecture assigns him to the fifth century of the Christian era. His novel is devoted to the love adventures of Leucippe and Cleitophon, and the narrative is interspersed with elaborate descriptions of places such as Alexandria, and of scenes such as life in Egypt presented. His style is stilted and pompous, but his work contains a great deal of curious and interesting information.—J. D.  ACHILLI´NI,, a famous mediæval physician and philosopher, professor of philosophy and anatomy, first at Padua, and afterwards at Bologna; born at Bologna in 1463. He was the first Italian who availed himself of the edict of the Emperor Frederick II. to dissect human subjects. His lectures attracted crowds of students from all parts of Europe. He was an ardent admirer of the Arab philosophers, especially Averroes, and with Arab philosophy must have imbibed no small tincture of Oriental superstition, as he left, besides various anatomical and medical works, an elaborate treatise on "Chiromantia, or Palmistry." Died in 1512.—E. M.  ACHILLINI,, grand-nephew of the preceding, a person of versatile genius and extensive attainments, distinguished in his time as a physician, jurist, theologian, and poet; born at Bologna in 1574, and died in 1640.  ACHMED-BESMI-EFFENDI, an Ottoman historian and statesman of the eighteenth century, was Turkish ambassador at Vienna and Berlin, and signed, as Ottoman plenipotentiary, the treaty of Kainardji. He is the author of a history of the war between the Ottomans and the Russians, from 1768 to 1774, and of an account of his two embassies. Both these works have been translated into German.—E. M.  ACHMET or AHMET-BEN-SEREIM, a learned Arab of the ninth century, author of a treatise on the interpretation of dreams, a Greek translation of which is usually annexed to the work of Artemidorus on the same subject.  ACHMET-GEDUC or ACOMAT, a celebrated Ottoman general, born in Albania about the year 1430. He took Otranto and other places in 1480. After the death of Mahomet II. in 1482, he raised Bajazet II. to the throne, and compelled Zizino, Bajazet's brother, and the lawful heir, to retire to Rhodes. Bajazet afterwards caused his benefactor, Achmet, to be murdered, or, according to some historians, murdered him with his own hand at a banquet.—E. M.  ACHMET, eldest son of Bajazet II., when on the point of mounting the throne, abdicated by Bajazet in his favour, was defeated and slain, in 1512, by his brother Selim I., who had previously murdered their father.  ACHMET. See. <section end="43H" /> <section begin="43I" />ACHTSCHELLING,, a Flemish landscape painter of the 17th century, pupil of Louis de Walden, whom he soon surpassed in his excellent imitation of nature. <section end="43I" /> <section begin="43J" />ACIDALIUS,, a precocious critic and a doctor of medicine, born at Wittstock in Brandenburg, and died in 1595, when he had scarcely completed his 29th year. He was the author of several poems, and of excellent critical remarks on Tacitus, Plautus, &c. <section end="43J" /> <section begin="43K" />ACILIUS,, consul at Rome 191 ., famous for a victory over Antiochus the Great. His son built at Rome the temple of Piety. <section end="43K" /> <section begin="43L" />A´CKERMAN, J. C. G., a German physician, professor of medicine at Altdorf in Franconia, author of "Lives of the Ancient Greek Physicians;" "Institutes of the History of Medicine;" and "A Manual of Military Medicine," all works of value. Born in 1756 at Zeulenrode in Upper Saxony; died in 801. <section end="43L" /> <section begin="43M" />A´CKERMAN,, was born in 1764, at Schneeberg in Saxony, where his father followed the trade of a saddler, and died in London, 30th March, 1834. Having served his apprenticeship with his father, he set out on his travels as a journeyman, and coming to London, he there formed an acquaintance with a countryman of his own, named Facius, who at that time conducted the "Journal of Fashions." With this person he formed an engagement as a designer of carriages, &c., in which he was so successful as in a very short time to be able to open that splendid establishment in the Strand, known as the Repository of the Fine Arts, whence he sent forth many elegant works, particularly the series of finely illustrated volumes called "Forget me not." Ackerman was one of the first inventors of waterproof fabrics for clothing; he assisted Accum in introducing the lighting of cities with carbonated hydrogen gas, and was the first to introduce lithography into this country.—S. <section end="43M" /> <section begin="43N" />A´CKERMAN,, D.D., ordinarius professor of the Old Testament and Hebrew at Vienna; born there 17th November, 1771, and died there 9th September, 1831. Works:—"Introductio in libros sacros Vet. Test., usibus academicis accommodata," 1825; "Archæologia Biblica breviter exposita," 1826; "Prophetæ Minores perpet. annot. illust.," 1830. <section end="43N" /> <section begin="43O" />ACOLUTH,, a learned Lutheran divine, born in Silesia, 1628, and died 1689. He published some Latin tracts, such as "Postilla Evangelica," &c. <section end="43O" /> <section begin="43P" />ACOLUTHUS,, professor of theology at Breslau in Silesia. In 1680 he published "Obediah" in Armenian and Latin, the first work printed in Armenian characters in Germany; and in 1701, some chapters of the Koran in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Latin. Died in 1704. <section end="43P" /> <section begin="43Q" />ACONZIO or ACONTIUS, a philosopher, jurist, and divine of the sixteenth century, a native of Trent. Renouncing the church of Rome, he retired to England, where he received a pension from Queen Elizabeth, to whom he dedicated a treatise entitled the "Stratagems of Satan." In an age of persecution he earnestly recommended to all Christian churches mutual forbearance; but his proposed basis of religious union comprehended not merely all professing Christians, but Jews, Moslems, and Pagans. His views were vehemently denounced by several divines both in England and on the Continent. He wrote a work on "Method; or the Right Mode of Studying and of Teaching Science;" and an admirable epistle on "Authorship." He was also a distinguished engineer, and wrote an able work on fortification. Died about 1565.—E. M. <section end="43Q" /> <section begin="43R" />ACORIS, king of Egypt, 374. He succeeded Nephereus, and entered into a league with the Arabians, Tyrians, and Evagoras, king of Cyprus, to make war against Artaxerxes Mnemon, king of Persia, in which he was unsuccessful. <section end="43R" /> <section begin="43S" />ACOSTA,, a Portuguese naturalist and physician, was born at the beginning of the sixteenth century at Mozambique, and died in 1580. He travelled much in the pursuit of science, and visited Asia in search of medicinal plants and drugs. During his voyage thither, he was seized by pirates, and had to pay a large ransom for his liberation. After spending several years in the East Indies, especially at Goa, a Portuguese colony, he returned to Europe and settled at Burgos, where he continued to practise medicine during the remainder of his life. Acosta wrote a treatise on the "Medicinal Plants and the Drugs of the East Indies."—J. H. B. <section end="43S" /> <section begin="43T" />ACOSTA,, professor of theology at Coimbra, wrote a commentary on part of the Old Testament. Died 1616. <section end="43T" /> <section begin="43U" />* ACOSTA,, an officer in the Central American service, well known in the scientific world as a geographer and historian, and residing at Santa Fé. Since 1834 he has engaged in various scientific and exploring expeditions, and has published several valuable treatises relating to the history, geography, and antiquities of South America. In 1848 he published "An Historical Compendium of the Discovery and Colonization of New Granada in the Sixteenth Century." In 1849 he edited and republished, with valuable additions, the work of the learned Caldas, so often cited by the venerable Humboldt, which presents a view of the sciences, literature, arts, and industry of New Granada. Acosta's works have been published at Paris.—J. F. <section end="43U" /> <section begin="43V" />ACOSTA,, a learned jesuit, born about 1539 at Medina del Campo, of Portuguese extraction. He went to Peru in 1572 as a missionary, and became Provincial of the Jesuits. He returned to Europe in 1588, and during the last years of his life, was principal of the university of Salamanca. His works of greatest value are—"A Natural and Moral History of Spanish America;" "A Description of the New World;" and "A Dissertation on the Conversion of the Indians." Died in 1600. <section end="43V" /> <section begin="43Zcontin" />ACOSTA,, a Portuguese gentleman of Jewish extraction, born at Oporto about the end of the sixteenth century. His parents, though apparently zealous Roman catholics, were, probably, at heart devoted to Judaism. When twenty-two years of age, he left Portugal, in order to make open profession of the Jewish faith, and escaped to Holland, with his mother and two brothers. Having investigated the principles of modern Judaism, he declared himself a Sadducee, and was solemnly cast out of the synagogue. After enduring for fifteen years all the ignominy and hardship of a Jewish excommunication, he signed and read a feigned recantation of his errors, but was again <section end="43Zcontin" />