Friedrieh Wilhelm Benjamin Von Giesebrecht, a German historian, born in Berlin, March 5, 1814. His father, Karl Heinrich Ludwig, was a dramatist, and his uncle, Heinrich Ludwig Theodor, was a poet and historian. He studied under Ranke, and became a professor at the gymnasium of Berlin, in 1857 at the university of Konigsberg, and in 1862 at that of Munich, where he also presides over the historical seminary, and succeeded Sybel as permanent secretary of the historical committee. He wrote the history of the emperor Otho II. for Ranke's Jahrbucher des deutschen Reiclis (Berlin, 1840); and having discovered and published the Annates Altahenses, a long missing manuscript of the 11th century, the Prussian government enabled him to reside from 1843 to 1845 in Italy to collect original materials for his most important work, Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit (3 vols., Brunswick, 1863-'5; 3d ed., 1868). In 1874 he undertook a revised edition and continuation of Heeren and Ukerfs Eu-ropaischen Staatengeschichte (72 vols., Gotha, 1823-74 et seq.).