BECKER, Jean (1833-84). A German violin virtuoso. He was born at Mannheim, and stud- ied with Kettenus and Vineenz Laehner. After a short period as a conductor at JIannheim he entered upon a series of brilliant concert tours (18.38), and finally settled in Florence, Italy, where in 1886 he established the famous Flor- entine Quartet.
BECKER, Karl (1823-96). A German stat-
istician, born at Strohausen (Oldenburg). He
foufjht in the campaigns of 1848, 1840, and 1850
against Denmark, and rose to be a captain in the
Army of Schleswig-Holstein. In 185.5 he organ-
ized the statistical bureau of Oldenburg, of which
he became director, and from 1872 until his re-
tirement in 1891 was director of the statistical
ollice of the German Empire. He edited Statis-
tische yachrichten i/ber das Gros'sherzogthum
Oldenhurg (1857-72), and from 1877 the Monats-
hrftc ~ur Ktatislik des Deutschen Reichs. His
writings include Zur Berechmmg von Sterbe-
tafeln (1874).
BECKER, Karl Ferdinand (1775-1849). A
German philologist, born at Lieser, Prussia. He
studied at tlie University of Giittingen, became a
physician at Offenbach in 1815, and there opened
a small private school. Here his work as an
instructor led him to make researches in philol-
ogy, which for a time met with considerable rec-
ognition. His view was that all languages are
subject to certain logical and philosophical prin-
ciples, and that thus a science of comparative
philology might be arrived at by a process of de-
duction. This method was later largely dis-
credited by the investigations of Jakob Grimm
and others, whereby comparative philology is
based on principles of history and ethnology and
is attained inductively. Becker's works inchule :
Deutsche Wortbildung (1824), Ausfiihrliche
deutsche Graminatik (3 parts, 1836-39), and
Der deutsche Stil ( 1848 ; 3d ed. revised by Lyon,
1884). Consult Helmsdiirfer, Becker der Gram-
matiker (Frankfort, 1854).
BECKER, Karl Ferdinand (1804-77). A
German writer on music, and organist. He was
born in Leipzig. He was made professor of
organ-playing at the Conservatory in 1843, but
resigned in 1850. Among his works on the his-
tory of music, which place him in the same rank
with Kiesewetter and Winterfeld, the most im-
portant are: Die Hausmusik in Deulschland im
16. n. und IS. Jahrhundert (1840); Die Ton-
kiinstJer dcs 19. .Jahrhnnderts (1847). He was
also among the most active contributors to the
A'eue Zeitschrift fiir Musik.
BECKER, Karl Friedrich (1777-1806). A
German historian, born in Berlin. He studied at
Halle, and for a time was a teacher at Kottbus
and Berlin. He wrote Krxiihlungen axis der alien
VTelt fiir die Jur/end (Halle, 1873), and a Welt-
geschichte fiir Kinder und Kinderlehrer (Halle,
1801-05), since frequently reprinted and so en-
larged and revised by Woltmann, Menzel, Loebell,
and others as to leave, in spite of the gain in
fullness and scientific accuracy, scant traces of
its original charm of style and arrangement.
BECKER, Karl Ludwig Friedrich (1820-
1900). A German historical painter, born in
Berlin. He was a pupil of von Klijber, Cornelius,
and Hess, afterwards studied in Paris. Rome,
and Venice, and first attained success with sub-
jects of the Venetian Renaissance. The chief
characteristics of his manner are historical
fidelity, skillfulness of technique, and richness
of coloring. His works include "Belisarius as
a Beggar" (1850), Doge in Council" (1864),
"Charles V. and Fugger" (1870). and "Emperor
Maximilian Receiving the Venetian Embassy"
(1877).
BECKER, Nikolaus (1809-45). A German
poet, born at Bonn. He is "the author of the
well-loiown song beginning, ".Sie soUen ihn nicht
haben, den freien, deutschen Rhein," which, as
an outburst of the popular German sentiment
of the day, became widely celebrated. There are
more than seventy difl'erent musical settings of
it, onl_v one of which, however, has become popu-
lar. The song was answered by a numlicr of
French poets, notably Alfred de Musset ("Nous
I'avons eu, votre Rhin allemand") and Lamar-
tine ("Marseillaise de paix").
BECKER, Oskar (1839-68). A German
political fanatic, known for his attempted assas-
sination of King William I. of Prussia. He was
born at Odessa. In 1850 he entered Leipzig L'ni-
versity, and in 1861, at Baden-Baden, endeavored
to kill the King by firing two shots from a pistol,
at a distance of three paces. The monarch suf-
fered only a slight injury of the neck. The
assassin, in a letter found upon him. stated as
his motive the conviction that King William was
unequal to the task of uniting Germany. He
was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment,
but was pardoned by the King, and released in
1866, with the stipulation that he should leave
Germany forever. He lived for a time at Chi-
cago, and subsequently went to Alexandria,
Egypt, where he died.
BECKER, Philip Johann (1809-86). A German radical. He was born at Frankenthal, in the Palatinate, grew up extremely democratic in his beliefs, and became a common laborer by preference. For his participation in the revolutionary movements of 1830, he suffered imprisonment. He finally turned to Switzerland, which
was then the home of political outcasts from
every land. There he fought under Ochsenbein,
against the Catholic cantons of the Sonderbund.
Upon the failure of Hecker's attempt to revolutionize Baden (1848). Becker, who had organized troops for his support, returned to Switzerland and put himself at the head of an expedition of German and Swiss auxiliaries to support the cause of freedom in Rome and Sicily. Their movements being frustrated, he led his troops
(1849) into the Palatinate and the Grand Duchy
of Baden, where a rising had taken place, and took
a prominent part in many engagements, displaying great courage and strategic skill. Becker afterwards became knowii as a leader of the young Socialist Party, an active agitator on behalf of the International Association of Workmen, and the editor of many Socialist organs. Later he became a revolutionary collectivist and an adherent of Karl Marx.
BECKER, Rudolph Zacharias (1752-1822). A German educator and author. He was born at Erfurt, and studied theology at the University of Jena. As instructor at the Basedow 'Philanthropin,' at Dessau, he founded a journal entitled Dcssauische Zeitung fiir die Jugend und ihre Frcnnde, which he afterwards continued at Gotha (1784), under the title of Deutsche Zeitung fiir die Jugend, and which in 1796 was
