Heinrich Pierer

Heinrich August Pierer (26 February 1794 in Altenburg – 12 May 1850, Altenburg) was a German officer, lexicographer and publisher known particularly for his ''Universal-Lexikon der Gegenwart und Vergangenheit'' (Universal Lexicon of the Present and Past), a multi-volume encyclopedic dictionary first published in 1824 as ''Encyclopädisches Wörterbuch der Wissenschaften, Künste und Gewerbe. Bearbeitet von mehreren Gelehrten'' (Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Crafts. Edited by several scholars); it is considered "the first full-fledged modern general lexicon" (Gurst 1976). Provided by Wikipedia