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- Traudl Lessing was born on 12 August 1625 in Vienna, Austria. She was previously married to Erich Lessing.
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Ignaz Holzbauer was born on 18 September 1711 in Vienna, Austria. Ignaz died on 7 April 1783 in Mannheim, Germany.- Soundtrack
Leopold Hofmann was born on 14 August 1738 in Vienna, Austria. Leopold died on 17 March 1793 in Vienna, Austria.- Writer
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Joseph Sonnleithner was born on 3 March 1766 in Vienna, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire [now Austria]. He was a writer, known for Fidelio (1968), The Metropolitan Opera Presents (1977) and Beethoven: Fidelio (2020). He died in December 1835 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria].- Adolf Bäuerle was born on 9 April 1786 in Vienna, Austria. Adolf was a writer, known for Die falsche Primadonna (1961) and Die lustigen Klassiker (1972). Adolf died on 19 September 1859 in Basel, Switzerland.
- Writer
- Music Department
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Ferdinand Raimund was born on 1 June 1790 in Vienna, Austria, Holy Roman Empire [now Austria]. He was a writer, known for Personal Shopper (2016), Ihr größter Erfolg (1934) and Der Verschwender (1917). He died on 5 September 1836 in Pottenstein, Lower Austria, Austrian Empire [now Austria].- Franz Grillparzer was born on 15 January 1791 in Vienna, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire [now Austria]. He was a writer, known for Das Kloster von Sendomir (1919), Klostret i Sendomir (1920) and Die Jüdin von Toledo (1919). He died on 21 January 1872 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria].
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Carl (Karl) Czerny was born on 20th of February, 1791, in Vienna, Austria. He studied piano with his father, Wenzel Czerny, and later took lessons from Antonio Salieri and Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was so impressed with Czerny's playing that he offered to teach him several times a week for two years. Czerny was giving concert performances as a child prodigy from the age of 9, playing a Mozart Piano Concerto in C minor and Beethoven's piano sonatas. By the age of fifteen he became a reputable music teacher himself. Czerny created his original method of piano practice, incorporating many didactic piano pieces named "Etudes", which he wrote for piano practice of his students. His method is focused on finger dexterity and velocity, as well as on the sound control and expressiveness. Many of his "Etudes" (studies) are widely used today for piano practice, especially such collections as "The School of Velocity", "The Art of Dexterity", and "Etudes for the Left Hand". Czerny became a leading performer and devoted supporter of Beethoven's piano music. He was selected by Beethoven to perform the premiere of the Piano Concerto No1 in 1806 and the Piano Concerto No 5 "The Emperor" in 1812, in Vienna, with "Ludvig van Beethoven' and the Emperor in attendance. Carl Czerny never married, and he lived alone. Being devoted to his ailing parents, he never took a concert tour. His students were such famous pianists as 'Sigismond Thalberg', Franz Liszt, and Stephen Heller. At one time in 1815, Beethoven asked Czerny to teach his nephew, Carl. In 1821 he started his two-year training course with Franz Liszt and continued correspondence with Liszt during his successful career. Czerny enjoyed a genuine respect from his famous colleagues. He shared a mutual admiration with Frédéric Chopin, who was Czerny's guest in Vienna, in 1829. Czerny died rich and famous, and left behind over one thousand original compositions and piano arrangements, of which about 860 were published. His original music is largely unheard by modern ears, with the exception of his "Etudes" and "Piano Sonatas for 4 hands", which are among the most charming pieces, that he wrote for his famous students to perform.- Music Department
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Schubert was musically educated at the "Hofkapelle" in Vienna where he sang as a boy but then had to quit in order to help his father at school. Four years later, he became an independent composer and was destined to live in poverty from then onwards. Having an introverted personality, Schubert played his songs mostly amongst a couple of friends who shared his romantic passion. Within his short life Schubert composed many pieces of music, including eight symphonies.- Music Department
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Joseph Lanner was born on 12 April 1801 in Vienna, Austria. He was a composer, known for The Blues Brothers (1980), Only One Night (1939) and Waltz War (1933). He died on 14 April 1843 in Oberdöbling, Austria.- Nestroy completed high school between 1811 and 1816. After graduating from high school, he began studying philosophy at the University of Vienna in 1817. In 1820 he moved to the law faculty for two semesters. During this time he had his first appearances as a singer and actor on amateur stages. He also took on speaking roles. He gave up his studies and devoted himself entirely to stage art. Between 1823 and 1825 he was engaged as a bassist at the German Theater in Amsterdam. This was followed by appearances in various places such as Brno, Graz and Pressburg. From 1831 he was back in Vienna. He played there at the Theater an der Wien until 1839. This was followed by appearances at the Leopoldstadt Theater, which was renamed the Carl Theater in 1848. In 1854 he leased this venue and ran it as director. There he was able to record many performance successes.
In 1860 he gave up this activity and moved to Graz. There he appeared for the first time in 1827 as the author of local farces with the title "Der Zettelträger Papp". Since his engagement in Vienna, Johann Nestroy has often written his speaking roles himself, and he has usually appeared in the lead role in his works. In total he wrote over 80 plays, which he adapted from originals. He used novels, novellas, comedies and vaudevilles by English or French authors as inspiration. Through his redesigns, in which he often used his characteristic dialogue wit or language play, the pieces underwent a strong change and deviation from the original, which was often no longer recognizable. Nestroy's play "The Ankin" (1848), for example, is based on the play "Martin Chuzzlewit" by Charles Dickens. In his pieces he makes language itself the theme of the content. But he also adapted pieces into parodies in which the original remained explicitly recognizable.
For example, he created "Tannhäuser" (first performed in 1857), "Lohengrin" (first performed in 1859) and "Judith and the Holofernes" (first performed in 1849). Nestroy's first literary success came with the fantastic comedy "The Evil Spirit Lumpacivagabundus or The Dissolute Cloverleaf" (premiered in 1833). It is a "magic farce with singing" as the subtitle says. The dramatic piece can still be seen on many schedules today. The magical elements of the content soon disappeared in Nestroy's work. He turned to social criticism. Just two years later, the work "On the ground and first floor" was premiered. In it the author addresses the contrast between poverty and wealth. The social difference was made immediately noticeable in the divided stage design at the premiere. The play "Talisman" was premiered in 1840. There Titus Feuerfuchs stands in the foreground as an outsider and for injustice, but also for the narrow-mindedness of the lower middle class, poverty and boredom. With these social symptoms, Nestroy pointed to the fragility of the world order. The "Talisman" is considered Nestroy's masterpiece.
As an opera singer himself, he often added vocals to his works. In the revolutionary play "Freiheit in Krähwinkel", which premiered in 1848, political criticism is voiced directly - Nestroy speaks out against the reaction in the year of the German revolution. But the author also doubts the effectiveness of exclusively rhetorical formulations in revolutionary jargon. Thanks to his acting experience and talent, Nestroy was a master of extemporization. This spontaneous, improvised speaking posture in the middle of the performance was a thorn in the side of the censors, because in this way Nestroy made his socially critical content heard without the censors being able to intervene. Nestroy's comedic, satirical plays served as inspiration for the work of numerous writers, such as Ödön von Horváth, Karl Kraus and Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
Nestroy's title "He wants to make a joke" (1842) became the literary template for Thornton Wilder's comedy "The Matchmaker" and the musical "Hello Dolly". - Music Department
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Johann Strauss Sr. was born on March 14, 1804, in Vienna, Austria. His father owned a small inn on the river Danube, and his mother was innkeeper, she died when he was seven years old. Strauss studied music with Johann Polichansky and also was an apprentice of a bookbinder. He joined a string quartet that grew into a small orchestra playing Viennese waltzes and German dances. Strauss became the leader of the orchestra, then he eventually became conductor of another orchestra. In 1825 he formed his own orchestra and began writing waltzes and other dancing music for his band.
In 1825 Strauss Sr. married Maria Ann Streim in the parish church of Liechtenthal in Vienna. They had three sons. Their elder son Johann Strauss became the most famous composer of waltzes and operettas. Their younger sons 'Josef Strauss' and Eduard Strauss deputized for their famous brother Johann Strauss when he was ailing. They continued the legacy of the Strauss Family Dynasty. In 1834 Strauss Sr. took on a mistress, named Emilie Trambusch, with whom he had eight children.
During the 1830's and 1840's Strauss Sr. became one of the most well known dance composers in Vienna. He wrote mostly waltzes, polkas, and marches, and also absorbed influences from his concert tours in other countries, where he picked up tunes of quadrille and gigue. Strauss Sr. toured with his band to France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, England and Scotland. His 1837 trip to France brought him highest international acclaim and proved his popularity with all audiences. Influential critic and composer Hector Berlioz promoted Strauss' popularity, helping his ambitious plan to perform his music in England for the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838. After that Strauss made many more concert tours to England with his orchestra.
In Vienna he established himself at the Sperl-Ballroom as the most popular dancing music composer. He became the first entertainer to start charging a fixed entrance fee to his concerts instead of an old practice of passing around a collection plate. In 1845 his son Johann Strauss debuted at the Dommayer's Casino and immediately became his competitor. Strauss Sr. was jealous about his son's talent and success and refused to play ever again at the Dommayer's Casino. In 1848 Strauss Sr. composed his most famous piece of music titled Radetzky March. It was dedicated to Austrian Field Marshal Radetzky and remained a popular march among the soldiers. The tradition among officers was to start clapping and stomping their feet when the chorus was played. This tradition is carried over today when Radetzky March is played in classical music venues in Vienna.
Strauss Sr. survived a divorce suit which was started by his wife Maria Anna in 1844, and allowed his sons to actively pursue an independent musical career. He died from scarlet fever on September 25, 1849, in Vienna, and was laid to rest in Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Ausria.- Bozena Nemcová was a Czech writer of the final phase of the Czech National Revival movement. Her image is featured on the 500 CZK denomination of the Ceská koruna. According to the dating up to now accepted by the majority of Czech authors, Bozena Nemcová was born in 1820 as Barbara Pankel (or Barbora Panklová according to the usual Czech name-giving for women) in Vienna as a daughter of Johann Pankel from Lower Austria and Teresie Novotná, a maid of Bohemian origin. In her childhood she lived near the small town of Ratiborice, where her grandmother Magdalena Novotná played an important part in her life. Nemcová would later write her most famous novel with the main character inspired by her grandmother.
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Johann Strauss (or Johann Strauss son), one of Austrian music's most famous names who studied music secretly against his father's will, later became the leader of his father's band and the indisputable "waltz king"; his waltz 'On the Beautiful Blue Danube', is the main theme in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
He was born Johann Sebastian Strauss on October 25, 1825, in Vienna, Austria. His father was the composer Johann Strauss Sr. Young Johann Strauss studied music secretly with his father's first violinist in the Strauss orchestra. He was reprimanded by his father who wanted him to be a banker. He continued studies of counterpoint, harmony, and violin, and concentrated fully on a career as a composer at the age of 17, when his father left the family.
Young Strauss made his debut at the Dommayer's Casino in Hietzing, the upscale district of Vienna. He became the rival of his father and gained popularity performing with his own orchestra. He took the side of revolutionaries when Vienna was racked up by the bourgeois revolution of 1848. He publicly played La Marseillaise and was hauled up by the Viennese authorities. That caused him denial of position of the Hofballmusikdirektor (Royal Ball Music Director). His career continued after the death of his father in 1849, which allowed the merger of two Strauss orchestras under the baton of Johann Strauss.
Strauss took his united orchestra on extensive tours in Austria, Germany, Poland, Italy, France, and Britain. Russian Tsar Alexander II commissioned Strauss to play at Pavlovsk, the royal suburb of St. Peterburg. There was the opening of a new railway and a landmark concert hall for Russian aristocracy. Strauss also accepted commissions to play for the Grand Prince Michael in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1853, when the commissions became too much to be handled, his mother persuaded younger brother Joseph to take over the helm of the Strauss Orchestra. Strauss eventually toured and concertized to an exhaustion and was confined to a sanatorium to recuperate as he was suffering from neuralgia. He was married three times and had complications with the Catholic Church which refused to grant him a divorce. Strauss had to change his religion and nationality in order to get married to the woman he loved; he became a citizen of German Duchy of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. After that he became free to marry his third wife Adele, who encouraged his creative talent in his later years.
Johann Strauss was the most sought after composer of dance music in the second half of the 19th Century. His influence is felt in the music of the operetta maestro Franz Lehár and other composers. Among his admirers were Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss and other prominent composers. Strauss wrote Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), Wiener Blut (The Viennese Blood), and other popular operettas. His exquisite waltzes: The Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Wood, Man only Lives Once, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, and many other waltzes made Johann Strauss the indisputable "waltz king" of the 19th century. He died of pneumonia on June 3, 1899, in Vienna, and was laid to rest in the cemetery of Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria.- Music Department
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Ludwig Minkus was born on 23 March 1826 in Vienna, Austrian Empire. He is known for Center Stage (2000), The Turning Point (1977) and Tonight We Sing (1953). He was married to Maria Antoinette Schwarz. He died on 7 December 1917 in Vienna, Austria.- Music Department
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Josef Strauss was born on August 20, 1827, in Vienna, Austria. His father, named Johann Strauss Sr., was the famous composer of waltzes and a leader of his own orchestra. Young Josef Strauss was educated as an engineer and had also accomplished several architectural projects. In 1853 his life and career was changed completely as he started writing music and conducting the Strauss Orchstra. He was convinced by his mother, Marie Anna, to deputize for his ailing elder brother Johann Strauss. He wrote many waltzes, polkas, and other dancing music for the brother's orchestra. He also extensively toured in Central Europe with the Strauss Orchestra. Josef Strauss died on July 22, 1870, in his home in Vienna, Austria.- Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (18 August 1830 - 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 2 December 1848 until his death. From 1 May 1850 to 24 August 1866 he was also President of the German Confederation. He was the longest-reigning ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as the longest-reigning emperor and seventh-longest-reigning monarch of any country in history
- Karl Blasel was born on 16 October 1831 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor, known for Der Unbekannte (1912), Ein Walzertraum (1907) and Karl Blasel als Zahnarzt (1912). He was married to Johanna Wellen. He died on 16 June 1922 in Vienna, Austria.
- Carl Costa was born on 2 February 1832 in Vienna, Austria. He was a writer, known for Bruder Martin (1954). He died on 11 October 1907 in Vienna, Austria.
- Ferdinand von Saar was born on 30 September 1833 in Vienna, Austrian Empire. He was a writer, known for Spannende Geschichten (1978). He was married to Melanie Lederer. He died on 24 July 1906 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.
- Ludwig Anzengruber was born on 29 November 1839 in Vienna, Austria. He was a writer, known for Der Meineidbauer (1915), Der ledige Hof (1919) and Der Meineidbauer (1941). He was married to Adelinde Lipka. He died on 10 December 1889 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.
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Karl Millöcker was born on 29 April 1842 in Vienna, Austria. He was a composer, known for Der Bettelstudent (1936), The Beggar Student (1956) and Kaiserwalzer (1933). He was married to Charlotte Kling and Karoline Hofer. He died on 31 December 1899 in Baden, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary.- Composer
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Carl Michael Ziehrer was born on 2 May 1843 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was a composer, known for Der Traum eines österreischischen Reservisten (1928), Young Girls of Vienna (1949) and Der Traum des österreichischen Reservisten (1915). He was married to Marianne Edelmann. He died on 14 November 1922 in Vienna, Austria.- Hans Pagay was born on 11 November 1845 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor, known for Die Herrin der Welt 8. Teil - Die Rache der Maud Fergusson (1920) and Die Herrin der Welt 1. Teil - Die Freundin des gelben Mannes (1919). He died on 21 January 1915 in Berlin, Germany.
- Leopold Strassmeyer was born on 23 December 1846 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for Frau Annas Pilgerfahrt (1915), Viererzug (1917) and The City Without Jews (1924). He died on 3 February 1927 in Vienna, Austria.
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Adolf Klein was born on 15 August 1847 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was an actor and director, known for Deception (1920), Der Georgitaler (1920) and Das Geheimnis der Mumie (1921). He died on 11 March 1931 in Berlin, Germany.- Franz von Schoenthan was born on 20 June 1849 in Vienna, Austria. He was a writer, known for Frau Sylvelin (1938), For Lykke og Ære (1915) and Der Raub der Sabinerinnen (1919). He died on 2 December 1913 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.
- Hanna von und zu Liechtenstein was born on 13 August 1849 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress, known for Johann Strauß an der schönen blauen Donau (1913). She was married to Aloys Franz de Paula Maria von und zu Liechtenstein. She died on 31 January 1925 in Baden, Lower Austria, Austria.
- Karl Baumgartner was born on 1 March 1850 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor, known for Gespenster (1918), Der Meineidbauer (1915) and Die Tragödie eines verschollenen Fürstensohnes (1922). He died on 6 November 1925 in Vienna, Austria.
- Richard Drasche-Wartinberg was born on 18 March 1850 in Vienna, Austria. He died on 14 July 1923 in Vienna, Austria.
- Leopold Krenn was born on 6 December 1850 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was a writer, known for Spitzenhöschen und Schusterpech (1928), Die Tragödie auf Schloss Rottersheim (1916) and Die Landstreicher (1916). He died on 2 October 1930 in Vienna, Austria.
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Josef Bayer was born on 6 March 1852 in Vienna, Austria. He was a composer, known for Loutkové pohádky (1966) and Die Puppenfee (1963). He died on 12 March 1913 in Vienna, Austria.- Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf was born on 11 November 1852 in Penzing, Vienna, Austria. He died on 25 August 1925 in Bad Mergentheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
- Paul von Schoenthan was born on 19 March 1853 in Vienna, Austria. He was a writer, known for Der Raub der Sabinerinnen (1919), The Rape of the Sabines (1936) and Theft of the Sabines (1954). He died on 4 August 1905 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.
- Carl Lindau was born on 26 November 1853 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was a writer, known for Schützenliesel (1926), Schützenliesel (1954) and Frühlingsluft (1938). He died on 15 January 1934 in Vienna, Austria.
- Gustav Maran was born on 8 January 1854 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for Filmposse (1914) and Dominik, wo ist die Tänzerin (1916). He died on 19 July 1917 in Sulz im Wienerwald, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary [now Austria].
- Clementine Plessner was born on 7 December 1855 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. She was an actress, known for Taras Bulba (1924), Kaliber fünf Komma zwei (1920) and Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (1918). She died on 27 February 1943 in Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Terezín, Czech Republic].
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Josef Franz Wagner was born on 20 March 1856 in Vienna, Austria. He was a composer, known for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), Colonia (2015) and Pettersson & Bendel (1933). He died on 5 June 1908 in Vienna, Austria.- Cornelius Kirschner was born on 28 May 1858 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor, known for Das vierte Gebot (1920), Die Ehe einer Nacht (1927) and Die Frau von gestern und morgen (1928). He died on 4 March 1931 in Vienna, Austria.
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A.M. Willner was born on 11 July 1859 in Vienna, Austria. He was a writer, known for The Rogue Song (1930), Strauss' Great Waltz (1934) and Wo die Lerche singt (1936). He died on 27 October 1929 in Vienna, Austria.- Leopold Natzler was born on 17 June 1860 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for Hypnose (1919) and Bruder Martin (1920). He died on 3 January 1926 in Vienna, Austria.
- Josef Teutscher was born on 17 October 1860 in Vienna, Austria. Josef was a writer and composer, known for Mozarts Leben, Lieben und Leiden (1921). Josef died on 17 April 1934 in Vienna, Austria.
- King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (who was actually Hungarian, not a Bulgarian) was born in Vienna, Austria, on Feb. 26, 1861, into the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family, a prominent branch of the Austro-Hungarian nobility. The family was quite wealthy and had extensive landholdings in Hungary and Slovakia, and Ferdinand grew up in the lap of luxury and comfort in the heady world of 19th-century Vienna. He had close family ties to other European royalty, being related to, among others, King Leopold II of Belgium, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Monaco of England and Empress Carlotta of Mexico.
In 1886 Bulgaria's King Alexander abdicated the throne and Ferdinand was elected Prince Regent by the Bulgarian National Assembly. Bulgaria was in danger of being occupied and absorbed by its giant neighbor Russia, and the inexperienced Ferdinand was not the Assembly's first choice as Prince Regent. However, every other European prince, duke and less royal personages to whom the position was offered wanted no part of it and turned it down. When it was (eventually) offered to Ferdinand, he accepted. To the surprise of most of Europe's royalty, however, he proved to be a capable and effective ruler.
In 1894 he married Princess Maria Louise of Bourban-Parma. It was an arranged political marriage meant to solidify the country's ties with European royalty, as Maria was from an old-line Italian noble family, and it produced four children. Unfortunately, she died in 1899 giving birth to their daughter Nadezhda. Ferdinand did not marry again until 1908 when, in order to fulfill his obligations as the head of the royal family and to provide a mother for his children, he married Princess Eleonore Carolina Gasparine. Both of Ferdinand's marriages were dogged by rumors of his homosexuality, or at least his bisexuality, and his frequent holidays on the Island of Capri--an Italian resort that catered mainly to wealthy and powerful gay European men--didn't help to squelch those rumors.
In 1894 the head of the Bulgarian Liberal party, which advocated the country keeping its distance from Russia, was removed from his post and several months later assassinated (an act blamed by many Bulgarians on Russian agents). Ferdinand believed that Bulgaria should have closer ties with Russia, and to that end he had his infant child Prince Boris (laer to become King Boris III) convert from the family's Roman Catholic faith to the Russian royal family's Eastern Orthodox branch of Catholicism. While that cemented the country's ties with Russia, it incurred the wrath of his Catholic relatives in the Austrian royal family, especially Emperor Franz Josef.
On October 5, 1908, Ferdinand declared Bulgaria's independence from the Ottoman Empire (although for all practical purposes the country had been independent since 1873), and proclaimed himself king. The country's independent status and his position as king was accepted by Turkey and other European royal powers. Four years later Ferdinand joined with Greece, Serbia and Montenegro in declaring war on Ottoman Turkey (a declining empire known as "the sick man of Europe") in what became known as the First Balkan War. He thought he could regain the Bulgarian territories still occupied by Turkey and expand his scope of influence in the Balkans. Turkey was eventually defeated and Bulgaria was awarded some territory, but Ferdinand didn't think that his allies had fairly divided the rest of the territory they had won with Bulgaria. In 1913 Ferdinand sent his army to attack his former allies Greece and Serbia in an attempt to secure more territory, but the country found itself under attack from neighboring Romania as well as the Ottoman Empire. In what became known as the Second Balkan War Bulgaria was soundly defeated, its army suffering heavy losses. Although the treaty that ended the war awarded Bulgaria a small strip of territory that gave it access to the Aegean Sea, Ferdinand was still not satisfied. In 1915 he sent his forces against Serbia. The Bulgarian army fared much better in this conflict, however, eventually forcing Serbia to surrender, and Bulgaria took over most of the Serbian territory of Macedonia. In addition, because of its alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, Bulgaria defended the Axis powers, fighting off attacks from Allied armies based in Greece. This lasted until 1918, when a combined Allied army mounted a strong attack on the Bulgarians and decisively defeated them. The Bulgarian army was virtually destroyed, and to save the throne for his family, Ferdinand accepted responsibility for the defeat and abdicated in favor of his son Boris, who shortly thereafter surrendered the country to the Allies.
After the war Ferdinand went to live in Coburg, Germany, his family's ancestral home. While he may have lost his throne, he didn't lose his fortune; he lived quite well in exile. However, exile would prove to contain its share of tragedy for him, too. His son Boris, now known as King Boris III', died under mysterious circumstances shortly after returning from a visit to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in Germany. Ferdinand's son Simon succeeded Boris, but he was deposed in 1946 by Communist rebels, who declared a "People's Republic of Bulgaria" and shortly afterward executed Ferdinand's remaining son Kyril.
Demoralized, dispirited and broken, Ferdinand died on Sept. 10, 1948, in his home of Coburg. His will requested that he be buried in Bulgaria, but the Communist authorities there would not allow it, so he was buried in the family crypt in St. Augustin's Catholic Church in Coburg. - Director
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Rudolf Del Zopp was born on 3 March 1861 in Vienna, Austria. He was a director and writer, known for Die Söhne des Grafen Steinfels (1915), Die Einsame Frau (1916) and Die ledige Frau (1917). He died on 31 January 1927 in Berlin, Germany.- Actor
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Max Figman, a veteran actor, whose last important Broadway role was that of Louis XV in "The Dubarry" on stage in 1932. Starting his career under Augustin Daly, and later under the management of Charles Frohman was a member of the old Madison Square Garden Stock Company. For seven years he was leading man and stage director with Mrs.Fiske, appearing in "Becky Sharp" "The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch, and her entir Ibsen repertoire. It was during this time that he met Theodore Wharton who later featured him in the silent film serial The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford with Burr McIntosh he played Blackie Daw and his wife Lolita Robertson also appeared in the serial. He has one son Max Jr. and his wife survive him. He was 85 years old when he died in the Edgewater Rest nursing home.- Director
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Alfred Halm was born on 9 December 1861 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was a director and writer, known for Rose Bernd (1919), Prinzesschen (1920) and Das Frühlingslied (1918). He died on 5 February 1951 in Berlin, Germany.- Anton Amon was born on 22 March 1862 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor, known for Die Beichte des Feldkuraten (1927), Der Fleck auf der Ehr' (1930) and Die Sportlady (1922). He died on 11 September 1931 in Vienna, Austria.
- Carl Goetz was born on 10 April 1862 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for Pandora's Box (1929), Tom Sawyer (1917) and Glanz und Elend der Kurtisanen (1920). He died on 15 August 1932 in Vienna, Austria.
- Arthur Schnitzler was born on 15 May 1862 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was a writer, known for Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Late Fame and The Affairs of Anatol (1921). He was married to Olga Gussmann. He died on 21 October 1931 in Vienna, Austria.
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Julius Einödshofer was born on 10 February 1863 in Vienna, Austria. He was a composer, known for Eva (1913), Verlorene Töchter (1918) and Eine tolle Nacht (1914). He died on 17 October 1930 in Berlin, Germany.