The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Lieber, Franz

LIEBER,, Franz, American publicist: b. Berlin, Germany, 18 March 1800; d. New York, 2 Oct. 1872. He volunteered as a soldier at 15 and was in the battles of Ligny, Waterloo and Namur. He served also in the Greek war of independence, recording his experiences in &lsquo;Journal in Greece&rsquo; (1823). He settled in the United States in 1827 and during the next five years was occupied with the compilation of an &lsquo;Encyclopædia Americana&rsquo; (13 vols.). While professor of history and political economy in South Carolina College (1835-56), he wrote the three great works by which he is best known, &lsquo;Manual of Political Ethics&rsquo; (1838); &lsquo;Legal and Political Hermeneutics or the Principles of Interpretation and Construction in Law and Politics&rsquo; (1839); &lsquo;Civil Liberty and Self Government&rsquo; (1853). In 1857 he became professor of history in Columbia and later of political science in the Columbia Law School. During the Civil War period he was a firm supporter of the Federal government and was frequently consulted by the Secretary of War. His war code, officially designated as &lsquo;Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field&rsquo; (1863), made him still more widely known. He was a member of the French Institute and of many learned societies at home and abroad. Consult &lsquo;Lives&rsquo; by Perry (1882); Harley (1899).