Ochino (Bernardino Tommasini), Italian reformer, b. Sienna, 1487. A popular preacher, he was chosen general of the Capuchins. Converted to the Reformation by Jean Valdez, he had to fly to Geneva, 1542. Invited to England by Cranmer, he became prebend of Canterbury and preached in London until the accession of Mary, when he was expelled and went to Zurich. Here he became an Antitrinitarian, and was banished about 1562 for Thirty Dialogues, in one of which he shows that neither in the Bible nor the Fathers is there any express prohibition of polygamy. He went to Poland and joined the Socinians, was banished thence also, and died Slaukau, Moravia, in 1564. Beza ascribes the misfortunes of Ochinus, and particularly the accidental death of his wife, to the special interposition of God on account of his erroneous opinions.
O’Connor (Arthur, afterwards Condorcet), General, b. Mitchells, near Bandon (Cork), 4 July, 1768. Joined the United Irishmen and went to France to negotiate for military aid. In May 1798 he was tried for treason and acquitted. He entered the French service and rose to distinction. In 1807 he married Elisa, the only daughter of Condorcet, whose name he took, and whose works he edited. He also edited the Journal of Religious Freedom. Died at Bignon, 25 April, 1852.
O’Donoghue (Alfred H.) Irish American counsellor at law, b. about 1840. Educated for the Episcopal ministry at Trinity College, Dublin, but became a sceptic and published Theology and Mythology, an inquiry into the claims of Biblical inspiration and the supernatural element in religion, at New York, 1880.
Oest (Johann Heinrich) German poet, b. Cassel 1727. Wrote poems published at Hamburg, 1751, and was accused of materialism.
Offen (Benjamin), American Freethinker, b. in England, 1772. He emigrated to New York, where he became lecturer to the Society of Moral Philantropists at Tammany Hall. He wrote Biblical Criticism and A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion, and supported the Correspondent, Free Inquirer, and Boston Investigator. Died New York, 12 May, 1848.
Offray de la Mettrie (Julian). See [Lamettrie].
O’Keefe (J. A.), M.D. Educated in Germany; author of an essay On the Progress of the Human Understanding, 1795, in which he speaks disparagingly of Christianity. He was a follower of Kant, and was classed with Living Authors of Great Britain in 1816.
O’Kelly (Edmund de Pentheny), a descendant of the O’Kelly’s; author of Consciousness, or the Age of Reason, 1853; Theological Papers, published by Holyoake; and Theology for the People, ’55, a series of short papers suggestive of religious Theism.
Oken (Lorenz), German morphologist and philosopher, b. Offenburg, 2 Aug. 1779. He studied at Göttingen and became a privat-docent in that university. In a remarkable Sketch of Natural Philosophy, 1802, he advanced a scheme of evolution. He developed his system in a work on Generation, 1805, and a Manual of Natural Philosophy, 1809. He was professor at Jena, but dismissed for his liberal views. From ’17 till ’48 he edited the scientific journal Isis. In ’32 he became a professor at Zürich, where he died, 11 Aug. 1851.
Oliver (William), M.D., of Bath, who was accused of Atheism. Died 1764.