FEDERICO I, king of PRUSSIA. — Born on 11 July 1657, died on 25 February 1713. In 1688 he succeeded his father in the electorate of Brandenburg. His participation in the War of the Spanish Succession won him the royal title from the Emperor: he was crowned on 18 January 1701. He protected artists and scientists, especially at the urging of his wife, Sofia Carlotta of Hannover. In 1694 he founded the University of Sciences in Berlin, and in 1696 the Academy of Fine Arts.
BIBL.: E. Fréclin-V. L. Tapié, Le XVIIe siècle, 8th ed., Paris 1949, p. 408 ff. (with complete bibliography). Roberto Palmarocchi