Count Alexander von Stauffenberg (German: Alexander Franz Clemens Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg; 15 March 1905, in Stuttgart – 27 January 1964, in Munich) was a German aristocrat and historian. His twin brother Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and younger brother Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg were among the leaders of the 20 July Plot against Hitler in 1944. Early life The brothers were born into the old and distinguished aristocratic South German Catholic Stauffenberg family. Their parents were the last Oberhofmarschall of the Kingdom of Württemberg, Alfred Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, and Caroline née Gräfin von Üxküll-Gyllenband. Among Alexander's ancestors were several famous Prussians, including August von Gneisenau. His name points to the imperial Hohenstaufen mountain and castle. Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg went to school in Stuttgart and studied ancient history at the University of Heidelberg, University of Jena, University of Munich and University of Halle. He and his brothers were introduced by Albrecht von Blumenthal to the circle of the mystic symbolist poet Stefan George, many of whose followers later worked for the German Resistance to National Socialism. Career Alexander earned a Ph.D. in 1928 in Halle and habilitated in 1931 at the University of Würzburg about Hiero II of Syracuse. He lectured at the University of Berlin, University of Gießen, and at Würzburg, where he was appointed assistant professor in 1936 and professor in 1941, after having been wounded in Russia. He accepted a call to the Reichsuniversität Straßburg in December 1942, but had to serve in the army again, first at the Eastern Front, where he was wounded again in late 1943. He used the time to finish a book about Stefan George, called Tod des Meisters. In July 1944, Alexander was in Athens as a lieutenant at the artillery command of the 68th Army Corps. 20 July Hitler Assassination Plot Because of Alexander's tendency to be outspoken, and because his wife was of Jewish ancestry, his brothers refrained from telling him about their plot to assassinate the Führer. On 11 August 1937 at Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Alexander married the aviator and aeronautical engineer Melitta Schiller, who had been released from Germany's DVL institute in 1936, probably due to her criticism of the regime and her lack of full Aryan status. Although she had been reinstated and was very active developing and testing war planes, she might nevertheless have been under surveillance. Post-plot After the 20 July