Paul Johann Anselm von Feuerbach

Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach, born 14 November 1775 in Hainichen, Saxe-Weimar, and who died 29 May 1833 in Frankfurt, was a German legal scholar who studied at the University of Jena, earning a doctorate in philosophy in 1795. He held law professorships at Jena from 1801, Kiel from 1802 to 1804 and Landshut from 1804, then served as second president of the court of appeal at Bamberg from 1814 and first president of the court of appeal at Ansbach from 1817. Commanded by King Maximilian Joseph to draft a new penal code, Feuerbach moved to Munich in 1805 with a senior Ministry of Justice appointment; the practical reform of Bavarian penal legislation began under his influence in 1806 with the abolition of torture, and the resulting Bavarian Penal Code was promulgated in 1813 and influenced legal reforms across Europe. He also gained renown through his research into the case of the mysterious foundling Kaspar Hauser.