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Christoph Ernst, Freiherr von Houwald

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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FREIHERR VON (1778-1845), German dramatist and author, was born at Straupitz in Lower Lusatia, a son of the president of the district court of justice, on the 28th of November 1778. He studied law at the university of Halle, and on completion of his academic studies returned home, married, and managed the family estates. In 1816 he afforded a home to his friend K. W. S. Contessa (1777-1825), himself a poet, who had met with serious reverses of fortune; Contessa lived with Houwald, assisting and stimulating him in his literary work, for eight years. In 1821 Houwald was unanimously elected syndic for Lower Lusatia, an office which placed him at the head of the administration of the province.

He died at Neuhaus, near Liibben, on the 28th of January 1845. Houwald is remembered as the author of several so-called "Fate tragedies" (see German Literature), of which the best known are Das Bild, Der Leuchtturm, Die Heimkehr, Fluch and Segen (all published in 1821). They have, however, small literary value, and Houwald is seen to better advantage in his narratives and books for juvenile readers, such as Romantische Akkorde (publ. by W. Contessa, Berlin, 1817); Buch fiir Kinder gebildeter Stdnde (1819-1824); and Jakob Thau, der Hofnarr (1821). Houwald's collected works, Sdmtliche Werke, were published in five volumes (Leipzig, 1851; 2nd ed., 1858-1859). See J. Minor, Die Schicksalstragodie in ihren Hauptvertretern (Frankfurt, 1883), and Das Schicksalsdrama in Kiirschner's Deutsche Nationalliteratur, vol. cli. (Stuttgart, 1884); O. Schmidtborn, C. K von Houwald als Dramatiker (1909).

Hova, the name originally applied to the middle-class MalayoIndonesian natives of Madagascar, as distinct from the noble class Andriana and the slave class Andevo. Hova has now come to mean the most numerous and powerful of the tribes which form the native population of Madagascar. The Hova, who occupy the province of Imerina, the central plateau of the island, are of Malayo-Indonesian origin. The period at which the "'Ova arrived in Madagascar is still a subject of dispute. Some think that the immigration took place in very early times, before Hinduism reached the Malay Archipelago, since no trace of Sanskrit is found in Malagasy. Others believe that the Hova did not reach the island until the 12th or 13th century. At the French conquest of Madagascar (1895), the Hova were the most powerful and, politically, the dominant people; but were far from having subjected the whole of the island to their rule. The"'Ova are short and slim, with a complexion of a yellowish olive, many being fairer than the average of southern Europeans. Their hair is long, black and smooth but coarse. Their heads 1 Much rice is cultivated in the vicinity of Houston by Japanese farmers.

are round, with flat straight foreheads, flat faces, prominent cheekbones, small straight noses, fairly wide nostrils, and small black and slightly oblique eyes. The physical contrast to the negro is usually very obvious, but, especially among the lower classes, there is a tendency to thick lips, kinky hair and dark skin. In many of their customs, such as taboo, infanticide, marriage and funeral rites, they show their Indonesian origin. Most of them now profess Christianity.