LEOGESELLSCHAFT. – Catholic scientific society of Austria, founded in Vienna on 28 January 1892 for the advancement of the sciences and arts on a Christian basis, in accordance with the action advocated by Leo XIII. On 3 February its governing board was constituted under the presidency of Baron J. F. von Helfert, with Prof. F. M. Schindler as its first secretary-general.
The Society was soon divided into various sections. At present there are eleven: theological-philosophical; pedagogical; catechetical; historical; rhetorical-homiletic; linguistic science; literary; art; natural sciences; social sciences; and foreign affairs (which is part of the «Union catholique d'Etudes internationales»). The first of these sections to be established was the historical one, headed by L. Pastor, with the aim of establishing, on the basis of exhaustive archival research, the truth in the individual historiographical subjects under discussion and of opposing, sine ira, but with rigorous scientific criteria, traditional and prevailing distortions and errors. The Society also began publishing a journal of literary criticism, the Österreichisches Literaturblatt, which was followed by other journals, publications and series of monographic studies (Die Kultur; Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte, Sprache und Literatur Österreichs; Apologetische Studien; Theologische Studien; Vorträge und Abhandlungen der österreichischen L.; Kirchenkunst; Der Seelsorger). The Jahrbuch der österreichischen L., an annual publication, makes it possible to follow the Society’s cultural activity year by year.
(Int. Mas, Barcelona)