GENTZ, FRIEDRICH

born May 2, 1764, Breslau, Silesia, Prussia [now Wroclaw, Pol.] died June 9, 1832, Vienna, Austria also called Friedrich Von Gentz German political journalist, famous for his writings against the principles of the French Revolution and Napoleon and as a confidential adviser of Metternich. Though a commoner, he sometimes affected the von of nobility, having received a Swedish knighthood in 1804. Additional reading Two biographies of Gentz are Paul R. Sweet, Friedrich von Gentz, Defender of the Old Order (1941, reissued 1970); and Golo Mann, Secretary of Europe: The Life of Friedrich Gentz, Enemy of Napoleon (1946, reissued 1970).