Egon Ferdinand Ranshofen-Wertheimer (September 4, 1894 – December 27, 1957) was a diplomat,

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and state.

Early life

Egon Ferdinand Ranshofen-Wertheimer was born as the son of the

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and member of the

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...

n parliament Julius Wertheimer in near

Braunau am Inn Braunau am Inn (; German for "Braunau on the Inn") is a town in Upper Austria on the border with Germany. It is known for being the birthplace of Adolf Hitler. Geography The town is on the lower river Inn below its confluence with the Salzach, ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. His family had Jewish roots, so they fled Austria in 1938 because of the growing threat of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

government. His town of birth, Braunau am Inn, was also the birthplace of Adolf Hitler. During World War I, he was introduced to Marxist ideology and studied in

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, and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

after the war. He later developed a more and more pragmatic attitude and became a social democrat. He started to work as an editor in

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and until 1930 as a foreign correspondent for the social-democratic newspaper ''Forward'' in

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. In this period, he wrote his first book, ''Portrait of the British Labour Party'', which became a bestseller and he made first contact with

Leopold Kohr Leopold Kohr (1909–1994) was an economist, jurist and political scientist known both for his opposition to the "cult of bigness" in social organization and as one of those who inspired the ''Small Is Beautiful'' movement. For almost twenty years, ...

, a young journalist and economist from

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, later author of ''The Breakdown of Nations''. His book raised the awareness of the British government, which had an important influence on the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. Therefore, he was able to work as a diplomat and supervisor of the

for 10 years in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, beginning in 1930.

United States

Because of the deteriorating situation in Europe, he emigrated to the United States, where he worked at American University in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, as a professor. In addition, he was employed as a consultant of the United States State Department and supported the US government in the struggle against

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. There, he and his younger colleague Leopold Kohr began to criticize Nazi Germany through media such as ''

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''.

Post-war period

Tizzy von Trapp gets the Egon Ranshofen-Wertheimer Award

Shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Egon Ranshofen began to work as an executive, supervisor, and diplomat for the UN. His book ''A Great Experiment in International Administration'' had a substantial influence on the development of the UN. Ranshofen-Wertheimer and Kohr also lobbied for an independent Austria. That the young second republic of Austria became a member of the UN rather quickly can be attributed to the engagement of Ranshofen-Wertheimer. Ranshofen-Wertheimer died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and is buried in his family grave in the cemetery of the castle of Ranshofen.

Reception

Braunau Contemporary History Days The Braunau Contemporary History Days are a series of conferences organised by the ''association for contemporary history''. Scientifically guided by Andreas Maislinger, it has annually taken place in Braunau am Inn since 1992. History During t ...

16 September 2007, with the title “

Peacemakers Peacemakers was an American pacifist organization founded following a conference on "More Disciplined and Revolutionary Pacifist Activity" in Chicago in July 1948. Ernest and Marion Bromley and Juanita and Wally Nelson largely organized the group ...

manual”, focused on the life of Egon Ranshofen-Wertheimer. The Egon Ranshofen-Wertheimer Award (ERWA) was founded by the Society for Contemporary History in Braunau am Inn in the beginning of 2007.

Publications

* Egon Ranshofen-Wertheimer,
Victory is not enough. The strategy for a lasting peace
'. W.W. Norton & Company Publishers

W.w. norton W. W. Norton & Company is an American publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly ''The Norton An ...

, New York,1942. * Egon Ranshofen-Wertheimer, ''The International Secretariat - A Great Experiment in International Administration''. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington 1945 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranshofen-Wertheimer 1894 births 1957 deaths People from Braunau am Inn Austrian political scientists 20th-century Austrian historians Austrian diplomats International relations scholars Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United States after the Anschluss American people of Austrian-Jewish descent 20th-century Austrian journalists 20th-century political scientists