Ignaz Anrelins Fessler, a Hungarian author, born in 1756, died in St. Petersburg, Dec. 15, 1839. He was a Capuchin friar, but was dis-missed from that order and became professor of oriental languages and hermeneutics in Lem-berg, where his tragedy of Sidney was performed in 1787. This being denounced as impious and revolutionary, he was obliged to flee, and repaired to Silesia. He embraced Protestantism, and in 1796 went to Berlin, where he joined Fichte in reforming a lodge of freemasons. In 1809 he became professor of oriental languages and philosophy at St. Petersburg, but soon lost this office on account of his alleged atheistic doctrines. Subsequently he was Protestant bishop of Saratov, and from 1833 till his death was general superintendent and ecclesiastical councillor of the Lutheran community of St. Petersburg. He was often involved in difficulties, especially as member of a Russian official committee at Sarepta, where he was charged with wishing to convert the Moravian community of that city into a Protestant organization similar to that of the Jesuits. His principal work is Geschichte der Ungarn und deren Landsassen (10 vols., Leipsic, 1812-'25). He also wrote several historical novels, and works relating to oriental languages and philosophy, freemasonry, and literature, and an autobiog-raphy (Riickblicke aufmeine siebzigjahrige Pil-gerschaft, Breslau, 1826; 2d ed., 1851).