FRÜHWIRTH, ANDREAS. — Dominican cardinal, born at S. Anna (Styria) on 21 August 1845, died in Rome on 9 February 1933, buried at S. Anna. On the occasion of his investiture at Graz (1863), he changed his baptismal name, Francesco, to the religious name Fra’ Andrea; he studied at Graz and Rome, where he was a student at the Collegio di S. Tommaso and received the lectorate in theology (1870); a priest from 1868, he taught theology from 1870 at Graz and subsequently at Vienna. In this city he distinguished himself as prior and provincial, becoming known for his friendship with Vogelsang and for the proceedings concerning the Religionsfondssteuer. Elected master general at Lyon on 19 September 1891, he restored common life in the Dominican Order, re-established the regular sequence of the General Chapters, had the Analecta S. Ord. Praed. (1893 ff.), the Monumenta Ord. Praed. Historica (1893 ff.), and the Bibliotheca ascetica Ord. Praed. (1897 ff.) published, and promoted the Leonine edition of the works of S. Tommaso d’Aquino, which had then been entrusted to the Dominicans.
He knew how to choose excellent collaborators, among whom he summoned to Rome Fathers Giacinto Cormier and Egidio Boggiani; he visited convents and provinces, recovering or enlarging those of La Quercia near Viterbo and S. Sabina in Rome; he established the faculty of canon law at the Collegio di S. Tommaso; and he wrote magnificent circular letters, including, for example, De sacra praedicatione (1893).
An apostolic visitor in Austria, he was appointed titular archbishop of Heraclea (30 November 1907) and sent as apostolic nuncio to Munich. A cardinal from 1915, he remained in Munich as pro-nuncio until December 1916, then returning to Rome, where he received the title of SS. Cosma e Damiano. Papal legate for the consecration of the cathedral of Linz (1924), major penitentiary from 1925, chancellor of the S.R.C. (1927), he combined great erudition and learning with tireless work for the ecclesiastical dicasteries and outstanding piety. From 1927 to 1931 he devoted himself particularly to the elevation of Alberto Alagno to sainthood and to the title of Doctor.