NOSSIG, ALFRED:
By: Isidore Singer
Austrian author and sculptor; born at Lemberg, Galicia, April 18, 1864. He studied law, philosophy, and natural science at the universities of Lemberg and Zurich (Ph.D.), and then studied medicine for several years at the University of Vienna. After living for some time at Paris he took up his residence at Berlin. He began his literary career with some poetical works in Polish, including "The Tragedy of Thought," a drama (1884); "The King of Zion," a drama (produced at the National Theater at Lemberg, 1887); and "John the Prophet," an epic poem (1892). In German he published the dramas "Göttliche Liebe" (1901); "Die Hochstapler" (produced at the Neue Bühne of Berlin, 1902); and the libretto to Paderewski's opera "Manru."
Nossig's scientific works, written in German and chiefly sociological, are as follows: "Ueber die Bevölkerung" (1885); "Einführung in das Studium der Sozialen Hygiene" (1894); "Revision des Sozialismus" (1900); "Die Politik des Weltfriedens" (1901); "Die Moderne Agrarfrage" (1902). To the literature of art he has contributed "Aesthetische Skizzen" (1895), "Die Kunst Oesterreich-Ungarns im Neunzehnten Jahrhundert" (1903), and many essays on the regeneration of the drama. He is recognized in Vienna and Berlin as an authoritative critic on art and the drama. His "Praktische Kritik der Lehre Spinoza's" appeared in 1895.
Nossig's work as a sculptor was exhibited at Paris (1899) and Berlin (1900), and attracted much attention. His chief works in this field are "Der Ewige Jude," "Juda der Makkabäer," "König Salomo," and the mask of the Empress Elizabeth of Austria.
Nossig has devoted especial attention to the Jewish question. In this direction he has written: "Versuch zur Lösung der Jüdischen Frage" (1887); "Matieralien zur Statistik des Jüdischen Stammes" (1887); "Sozialhygiene der Juden und des Altorientalischen Völkerkreises" (1894); "Jüdische Statistik," vol. i. (a collection edited by Nossig, 1903); "Die Bilanz des Zionismus" (1903); and "Das Jüdische Kolonisationsprogramm" (1904).
