[Josef Arthur, Comte de Gobineau]. French diplomatist and author, born at Bordeaux in 1816. His first diplomatic service was as secretary of the French legation at Bern, in 1851. He was next sent as ambassador to Persia in 1861, to Greece in 1864, to Brazil in 1869, to Sweden in 1872, and in 1877 he resigned and retired. Gobineau was much given to study wherever he found himself. Among his published works are Essai sur l’Inégalité des Races Humaines (1855), and Histoire des Perses (1869). Besides his literary pursuits he was also active in various philosophic and philanthropic endeavors. He died in Paris on the 17th of October 1882. See also Romances of the East.
