HAHN-HAHN

hahn-hahn, ida, countess von (1805-1880), german author, was born at tressow, in mecklenburg-schwerin, on the 22nd of june 1805, daughter of graf (count) karl friedrich von hahn (1782-1857), well known for his enthusiasm for the stage, upon which he squandered a large portion of his fortune. she married in 1826 her wealthy cousin count adolf von hahn-hahn. with him she had an extremely unhappy life, and in 1829 her husband's irregularities led to a divorce. the countess travelled, produced some volumes of poetry indicating true lyrical feeling, and in 1838 appeared as a novelist with _aus der gesellschaft_, a title which, proving equally applicable to her subsequent novels, was retained as that of a series, the book originally so entitled being renamed _ida schonholm_. for several years the countess continued to produce novels bearing a certain subjective resemblance to those of george sand, but less hostile to social institutions, and dealing almost exclusively with aristocratic society. the author's patrician affectations at length drew upon her the merciless ridicule of fanny lewald in a parody of her style entitled _diogena_ (1847), and this and the revolution of 1848 together seem to have co-operated in inducing her to embrace the roman catholic religion in 1850. she justified her step in a polemical work entitled _von babylon nach jerusalem_ (1851), which elicited a vigorous reply from h. abeken. in 1852 she retired into a convent at angers, which she, however, soon left, taking up her residence at mainz where she founded a nunnery, in which she lived without joining the order, and continued her literary labours. for many years her novels were the most popular works of fiction in aristocratic circles; many of her later publications, however, passed unnoticed as mere party manifestoes. her earlier works do not deserve the neglect into which they have fallen. if their sentimentalism is sometimes wearisome, it is grounded on genuine feeling and expressed with passionate eloquence. _ulrich_ and _grafin faustine_, both published in 1841, mark the culmination of her power; but _sigismund forster_ (1843), _cecil_ (1844), _sibylle_ (1846) and _maria regina_ (1860) also obtained considerable popularity. she died at mainz on the 12th of january 1880. her collected works, _gesammelte werke_, with an introduction by o. von schaching, were published in two series, 45 volumes in all (regensburg, 1903-1904). see h. keiter, _grafin hahn-hahn_ (wurzburg, undated); p. haffner, _grafin ida hahn-hahn_, _eine psychologische studie_ (frankfort, 1880); a. jacoby, _ida grafin hahn-hahn_ (mainz, 1894). hai (939-1038), jewish talmudical scholar, was born in 939. he was educated by his father sherira, gaon of pombeditha (pumbedita), whom he afterwards assisted in his work. they were cast into prison for a short time by the caliph qadir, and subsequently on sherira's death hai was appointed gaon in his place (998). this office he held till his death on the 28th of march 1038. he is famous chiefly for his answers to problems of ritual and civil law. he composed important treatises on talmudic law and the _mishnah_; many poems are also attributed to him on doubtful authority. in his _responsa_ he laid stress on custom and tradition provided no infringement of the law were involved, and was essentially conservative in theology. he had considerable knowledge not only of religious movements within the jewish body, but also of mahommedan theology and controversial method, and frequently consulted theologians of other beliefs. see steinschneider, _hebr. ubersetz_. p. 910, and article in _jewish encyclopedia_, vi. 153.