Gustav Landauer (7 April 1870 – 2 May 1919) was one of the leading theorists on

anarchism in Germany German individualist philosopher Max Stirner became an important early influence in anarchism. Afterwards Johann Most became an important anarchist propagandist in both Germany and in the United States. In the late 19th century and early 20th ...

at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was an advocate of

social anarchism Social anarchism is the branch of anarchism that sees individual freedom as interrelated with mutual aid.Suissa, Judith (2001). "Anarchism, Utopias and Philosophy of Education". ''Journal of Philosophy of Education'' 35 (4). pp. 627–646. . ...

and an avowed

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campai ...

. In 1919, he was briefly Commissioner of Enlightenment and Public Instruction of the short-lived

Bavarian Soviet Republic The Bavarian Soviet Republic, or Munich Soviet Republic (german: Räterepublik Baiern, Münchner Räterepublik),Hollander, Neil (2013) ''Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I''. McFarland. p.283, note 269. was a short-lived unre ...

during the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 The German Revolution or November Revolution (german: Novemberrevolution) was a civil conflict in the German Empire at the end of the First World War that resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a d ...

. He was killed when this republic was overthrown. Landauer is also known for his study of

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

, and his translations of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's works into German.

Life and career

Landauer was the second child of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents Rosa and Herman Landauer. He supported anarchism by the 1890s. In those years, he was especially enthusiastic about the individualistic approach of

Max Stirner Johann Kaspar Schmidt (25 October 1806 – 26 June 1856), known professionally as Max Stirner, was a German post-Hegelian philosopher, dealing mainly with the Hegelian notion of social alienation and self-consciousness. Stirner is often seen a ...

and

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, but also "cautioned against an apotheosis of the unrestrained individual, potentially leading to the neglect of solidarity". He was good friends with

Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...

, influencing the latter's philosophy of dialogue. Landauer believed that social change could not be achieved solely through control of the state or economic apparatus, but required a revolution in interpersonal relations. He felt that true socialism could arise only in conjunction with this social change, and he wrote, "The community we long for and need, we will find only if we sever ourselves from individuated existence; thus we will at last find, in the innermost core or our hidden being, the most ancient and most universal community: the human race and the cosmos." One of Landauer's grandchildren, with wife and author

Hedwig Lachmann Hedwig Lachmann (29 August 1865 – 21 February 1918) was a German author, translator and poet. Life and work Lachmann was born in Stolp, Pomerania in 1865, to a Jewish family, and was the daughter of a cantor, Isaak Lachmann. She spent her ch ...

, was

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

, the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

television, stage and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

, writer, and producer.

Works

* ''Skepsis und Mystik'' (1903) * ''Die Revolution'' (trans. ''Revolution'') (1907) * ''Aufruf zum Sozialismus'' (1911) (trans. by David J. Parent as ''For Socialism''. Telos Press, 1978. ) * Editor of the journal ''Der Sozialist'' (trans. ''The Socialist'') from 1893–1899 * "Anarchism in Germany" (1895), "Weak Statesmen, Weaker People" (1910) and "Stand Up Socialist" (1915) are excerpted in '' Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas – Volume One: From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE–1939)'', ed. Robert Graham.

Black Rose Books Dimitrios I. Roussopoulos (born 1936) is a Canadian political activist and publisher. Early life Roussopoulos studied philosophy, politics, and economics at several Montreal and London universities. He has remained institutionally independent ...

, 2005. * Gustav Landauer. ''Gesammelte Schriften Essays Und Reden Zu Literatur, Philosophie, Judentum''. (translated title: ''Collected Writings Essays and Speeches of Literature, Philosophy and Judaica''). (Wiley-VCH, 1996) * Gustav Landauer. ''Anarchism in Germany and Other Essays''. eds. Stephen Bender and Gabriel Kuhn. Barbary Coast Collective. * Gustav Landauer. ''Revolution and Other Writings: A Political Reader'', ed. & trans. Gabriel Kuhn;

PM Press PM Press is an independent publisher, founded in 2007, that specializes in radical, Marxist and anarchist literature, as well as crime fiction, graphic novels, music CDs, and political documentaries. It has offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

, 2010.

References

Footnotes

External links

* * * * *
German Tragedies: Robert Nichols Remembers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landauer, Gustav 1870 births 1919 deaths 19th-century German Jews Anarchist theorists Anarcho-communists Anarcho-pacifists Bavarian Soviet Republic Critics of religions German anarchists German Peace Society members Jewish anarchists Jewish pacifists Libertarian socialists Murdered anarchists People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Writers from Karlsruhe

Life and career

See also

Works

References

Footnotes

Further reading

External links