Puffendorf

Jurist and historian, born in Dorfchemnitz, E Germany. After studies at Leipzig and at Jena, he was tutor at the home of the Swedish ambassador at Copenhagen when war broke out, and was imprisoned. Among his great works is De jure naturae et gentium (1672, Of the Law of Nature and Nations). Appointed Swedish historiographer to Charles XI, he published a history of Sweden, and in 1688 the Elector of Brandenburg invited him to Berlin to write the history of Frederick William, the Great Elector. He is remembered for his defence of the idea of natural law. He also argued for the formation of a United Protestant Church from the Reformed and Lutheran churches.