Holst, Gustav, 1874-1934, English composer, studied at the Royal College of Music. Grieg, Richard Strauss, and Ralph Vaughan Williams influenced his early work, but most of his music is highly original. Outstanding compositions are The Planets (1918), a suite for orchestra; The Hymn of Jesus (1920), for chorus and orchestra; The Perfect Fool (1923), an opera; and Egdon Heath (1928), an orchestral piece.

Holst, Hermann Eduard von, 1841-1904, American historian, b. Livonia (then part of Russia), of German parents. He was barred from Russia because of a pamphlet attacking the czarist government. He immigrated (1867) to the United States, where hardship and labor undermined his health. While in the United States he studied American institutions. In 1872 he returned to Europe to teach in the universities of Strasbourg (1872-74) and Freiburg (1874-92). His Constitutional and Political History of the United States (7 vol., 1876-92), written in German and translated, is chiefly the constitutional and political history of slavery and the struggle to preserve the Union. He fervently supported and vividly portrayed the Union cause. From 1892 to 1900 he was head of the history department at the newly founded Univ. of Chicago.

Holst may refer to various people:

• Adriaan Roland Holst (1888 - 1976), Dutch writer
• Christian Holst (1981- ), Danish/Faroese football player
• Eduard Holst (1843-1899), Danish actor, dancer, playwright and composer
• Ewout Holst (b. 1978), Dutch swimmer
• Erich von Holst (1908-1962), German behavioral physiologist
• Erik von Holst (1894-1962), Estonian/German ice yacht designer and sailor
• Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), British composer
• Hermann Eduard von Holst (1841-1904), Estonian-German-American historian
• Imogen Holst (1907 - 1984), British conductor, composer and writer, daughter of Gustav Holst
• Jeffrey Holst (1978 - ) American attorney and Republican delegate
• Johan Jørgen Holst (1937-1994), Norwegian politician
• Kai Holst (1913-1945), Norwegian resistance fighter and member of Milorg
• Peter Theodor Holst (1843-1908), Norwegian politician
• Sanford Holst (1946- ), American historian specializing in the ancient Mediterranean
• Spencer Holst (1926-2001), American writer and storyteller
• Theodor Von Holst (1810-1844), English painter

See also

• Holst Township, Minnesota