Academic scandal for Freiherr zu Guttenberg
Karl-Theodor Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg is the scion and heir of a very old German family. His direct ancestors include members of the houses of Eltz, Wrede, von Meran, Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, Arenberg, Lobkowitz, Kinsky, Auersperg, Merode Thurn und Taxis, Esterhazy, Schwarzenberg... up to Liechtenstein and through Archduke Johann of Austria - Habsburg-Lorraine.
Quite illustrous. As is his marriage to a descendent of the "Iron Chancellor" Bismarck: Stephanie Countess of Bismarck-Schönhausen.
His job: Cabinet minister of defense of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Academic profession: lawyer. Doctorate from the University of Bayreuth.
A golden boy. Till scandal broke loose some days ago which gets worse by the minute- virtually.
Because the Baron is accused of being a plagiator on using foreign research in his dissertation without declaring it as quotes and mention the real authors. Which for academics and people of honour is something not easily, if at all, to remedy. At the moment lawyers from all over Germany have founded an internet group to check the dissertation and to document any quote taken from someone else's work without mentioning the source.
I follow the case (being a lawyer myself) and it looks really bad for him. He's been given to weeks to explain by his alma mater but the political damage is very bad. We'll see.