Abstract: A liquid crystal composition comprises a liquid crystal and a carboxylic acid or its ester as an additive. By the presence of the additive, the longitudinal axes of liquid crystal molecules can be spontaneously oriented in a direction perpendicular to the surface of a holding wall of a liquid crystal display plate. In particular, the additives may be esters of p-hydroxy- or m-hydroxy-benzoic acid, phenylacetic acids having 1 or 2 hydroxy groups or their esters, phenylpropionic acids having 1 or 2 hydroxy groups or their esters, or 3, 4, 5-trihydroxybenzoic acid esters, or said additives may be selected from the group consisting of compounds having the formulae: ##SPC1##Wherein R.sub.3 is hydrogen or a normal alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms; R.sub.5 is hydrogen, hydroxy, a normal alkyl group having 1 to 16 carbon atoms or a normal alkoxy group having 1 to 16 carbon atoms; R.sub.6 is hydrogen, hydroxy or nitro; n.sub.1 is 1 or 2: and n.sub.2 is 0, 1 or 2.

Abstract: An electro-optical element comprising a nematic liquid crystal composition and at least one compound represented by the formula: ##SPC1##Wherein R is an alkyl radical having from 4 to 20 carbon atoms.Said compounds are pleochroic dyes having a special function which differs from hitherto known dyes in their interaction with nematic liquid crystal molecules. The electro-optical element makes it possible to obtain a liquid crystal display device which exhibits the desired figure in color differing from background colors.