"ERNST BASSERMANN (1854-1917), German politician and leader of the National Liberal party, was born June 26 18 J4 at Wolsag in the Black Forest. He began his career in 1880 as a lawyer at Mannheim. From 1885 to 1892 he was a deputy in the Baden Diet, and from 1893, with brief interruptions, a member of the Reichstag. In 1905 the National Liberal party elected him as president of the party. In the Reichstag he enjoyed a high reputation as a speaker, and he exercised an eminent influence on the course of politics. He died July 17 1917 at Mannheim.