THE
IMPERIAL DICTIONARY
OF
UNIVERSAL BIOGRAPHY:
A SERIES OF ORIGINAL MEMOIRS.
AA, Christian Charles Henry van der, for fifty-one years pastor of a Lutheran congregation at Haarlem, was born at Zwoll in 1718. He studied theology at Leyden and Jena, and was long secretary to the Haarlem academy of sciences, to the establishment of which he had prominently contributed. A medal was struck to commemorate the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of his pastorship. Various able dissertations of his on physical science were published in a Dutch periodical. Died at Haarlem in 1793.—E. M.
AA, Gerard van der, and his two sons, Adolphus and Philip, three Dutch patriots, who acted a distinguished part in the emancipation of their country from the Spanish yoke in the reign of Philip II.
AA, Peter van der, an eminent lawyer and writer on jurisprudence, born at Louvain about 1535. After being professor of law in the university of Louvain, he was appointed in 1565 assessor of the supreme council of Brabant, and in 1574 president of the high court of justice at Luxemburg. Died in 1594.
AA, Peter van der, a celebrated Dutch publisher. He commenced business at Leyden about 1682, receiving into partnership his two brothers, Hildebrand, an engraver, and Baldwin, a printer. His principal publications were,—"Voyages and Travels relating to the East and West Indies," in 28 vols. 12mo; "Pleasant Gallery of the World, with Maps and Views," in 33 vols. folio; "Ieones Arborum;" "Travels in Tartary, Persia," &c., in 2 vols. 4to; "Vaillant's Botanicon Parisiense;" "Gronovius' Greek Antiquities," in 13 vols. folio; "Grævius' Roman, Italian, and Sicilian Antiquities," in 57 vols. folio; and "Erasmus' Works," in 11 vols. folio. Died in 1730.—E. M.
AA, Thierry van, a Dutch painter, born at the Hague in 1731, was a pupil of Johann Heinrich Heller. Both as a man and as an artist, he was very remarkable for his grace, for his brilliancy of conception, and erudition. His specialty was to paint the panels of carriages, which, according to the then prevailing fashion, were most elaborately ornamented with pictures. Thierry excelled in representing Cupids, and other graceful subjects. He died, universally esteemed, in 1809.—R. M.
AACS or ACS, Michael, a Hungarian philosopher and divine, was born at St. Martin in 1631. After studying in Germany, he successively held a pastoral charge at Hemegyes-Ala, Raab, and Rosenau. In 1669 he published at Tubingen a work, entitled "Pontes Calvinismi Obstructi," and a Hungarian work at Strasburg in 1700. Died in 1708.
AACS or ACS, Michael, a Hungarian divine, son of the preceding, was born at Raab in 1672. After completing his studies at Wittemberg and Tubingen, he was appointed chaplain to a Hungarian regiment. He wrote several theological works in Latin and Hungarian. Died in 1711.
AAGARD, Christian, born in 1616 at Wiborg, was appointed in 1647 professor of poetry in the university of Copenhagen, where he had studied, and in 1658, principal of the college of Ribe. He has left some Latin poems remarkable for purity and elegance of diction. Died in 1664.
AAGARD, Niels or Nicholas, elder brother of the preceding, born at Wiborg in Denmark in 1612. At first pastor at Faxoe, he became in 1647 professor of rhetoric, and librarian at Soroe. Besides several Greek and Latin poems, he published various critical dissertations, one of which is on the style of the New Testament. Died in 1657.
AAGESEN, Svend, the oldest Danish historian, better known by his Latin name of Sueno Aggonis filius. Under the auspices of Absalon, archbishop of Lund, he drew up in barbarous Latin a compendious history of the Danish kings from the year 300 to 1187. He also translated into Latin the military code of Canute the Great. Died about the beginning of the thirteenth century.—E. M.
AALI, a celebrated Turkish writer, author of a history of the Ottoman empire from its foundation to within a few years of his death, which took place in 1597.
AALST, the name of several Dutch artists. See Ælst.
AARE, Diederik or Dirk van der, bishop and prince of Utrecht, famous for his obstinate and sanguinary war with the count of Holland. Died in 1212.
AARON, a Hebrew of the tribe of Levi, the son of Amram, and the brother of Moses, with whom he co-operated in effecting the deliverance of his countrymen from Egypt. He was a man of ready and effective eloquence, and served as a medium of communication between Moses and the people of Israel. After they reached the desert of Arabia, he was invested with the office of high priest, which was made hereditary in his family. Although a more persuasive speaker than Moses, Aaron was not possessed of the same strength of character or depth of religious conviction. While his brother was upon the mount, receiving the law from Jehovah, he yielded to the solicitations of the people, and made for them a golden calf, doubtless an imitation of the Egyptian idol Mnevis. At another period, he manifested some jealousy of the superior position and influence of Moses, for he joined with Miriam, their sister, in the attempt to raise up opposition to his authority. Afterwards he was doomed to encounter a similar trial himself, for a number of the leading men in the different tribes conspired against him, on the ground that he had no exclusive right to the priesthood. This conspiracy was signally defeated. The rebels were swallowed up by the yawning earth, and when their friends murmured at the severity of the stroke, a fiery pestilence broke out and destroyed great numbers of them. On the occasion of the miraculous supply of water at Zin, Aaron exposed himself to the divine displeasure, by failing to honour God as the source of the blessing, and therefore he was prevented from entering the promised land. When the Israelites reached mount Hor, he was commanded to ascend to its summit, to strip himself of his priestly garments, to transfer them to his son, and then prepare for death. He died in the year 1451 b.c., aged 123 years, and the whole congregation mourned for him thirty days. The supposed place of his burial is still pointed out.—W. L.
AARON, Abiob or Aviov, a celebrated rabbi of Thessalonica, author of "Notes on Esther," selected from rabbinical writings. Lived in the sixteenth century.
AARON, Acharon (or the younger), a learned Karaïte Jew of Nicomedia, author of various MS. works on rabbinical theology. Flourished in the fourteenth century.
