LEOGESELLSCHAFT. – A Catholic scientific society of Austria founded in Vienna on 28 January 1892 to promote the sciences on a Christian basis, in accordance with the aims espoused by Leo XIII. On 3 February, the corresponding directory was established under the presidency of Baron J. F. von Helfert, with Professor F. M. Schindler as its first general secretary.
The Society soon divided into various sections. There are currently 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 formed was the historical one, led by L. Pastor, with the aim of establishing historical truth in individual historiographical topics through exhaustive archival research and opposing, sine ira but with rigorous scientific criteria, distortions and prevailing errors. The Society also began publishing a literary criticism journal, the Österreichisches Literaturblatt, 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, records the Society’s cultural activities year by year.