Theodora Büttner (born Theodora Reichel; 17 June 1930) is a retired

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

historian. For many years she was a professor at the Karl Marx University (as it was known at the time) in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. Much of her own research was focused on the precolonial history of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and on the anti-colonial liberation movements.

Life

Theodora Reichel was born in Thum, a small former mining town in the hills south of

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

. Her mother worked in retailing and her father was employed as a businessman. She attended school locally between 1936 and 1949, by which time she had lived through the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–1945) and the region of Germany in which she grew up had come to be administered as the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

(1945–1949). Between 1949 and 1953 she studied successfully for a degree in

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

English studies English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries. This is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is a dis ...

and

Pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

at the teacher training section (''"Lehramt"'') of the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. Between 1946 and 1953 she was a member of the Free German Youth (''"Freie Deutsche Jugend"'' / FDJ) which was in effect the youth wing of the Socialist Unity Party (''"Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands"'' / SED), a new political party, launched under contentious circumstances in April 1946 and, by the time the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

was founded in October 1949, well on its way to becoming the ruling party in a new kind of German one-party dictatorship. In 1953, the year of her twenty-third birthday, she herself became a member of the SED. It was also in 1953 that she was appointed an assistant at the university's

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

(including other "humanities") Institute. She received her doctorate from

in 1957. Her dissertation concerned the socio-religious Circumcellion movement.Theodora Büttner: ''Die sozialreligiöse Bewegung der Circumcellionen (Agoniten)''. in: Hellmut Kretzschmar: ''Vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit: Zum 65. Geburtstag von Heinrich Sproemberg.'' Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1956, (''Forschungen zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte'', Vol 1). During this period she was employed as a research assistant (1954–1961) and then as a senior research assistant (1961–1965) in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Department at the Institute for General History of

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. Her habilitation (higher academic degree)), which concerned the socio-economic structure of

Adamawa Region The Adamawa Region () is a constituent region of the Cameroon, Republic of Cameroon. It borders the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre and East Region (Cameroon), East regions to the south, the Northwest Region (Cameroon), Northwest and West Re ...

during the nineteenth century, opened the way for a successful academic career. In 1966 she obtained a teaching post in African History at the Leipzig University Africa Institute. In 1968 she was appointed a full professor for African History at the Africa Institute, and in 1969 further promotion followed as she was given a post covering the Africa and Middle East section, but her own work continued to focus on Africa. From 1988 till 1992 Theodora Büttner was a corresponding member of the German Academy of Sciences at (East) Berlin. She retired in 1992.

Personal

Theodora Büttner was married to (Kurt) Hermann Büttner (1926–1999) who was, like her, an Africa specialist in the

History department.

Output

* Theodora Büttner: "Die sozialreligiöse Bewegung der Circumcellionen (Agoniten)", in: Hellmut Kretzschmar: ''Vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit: Zum 65. Geburtstag von Heinrich Sproemberg.'' Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1956 (''Forschungen zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte'', Band 1). * Theodora Büttner. ''Die Circumcellionen, eine sozial-religiöse Bewegung'', Leipzig 1957, Dissertation Universität Leipzig, 14. September 1957. * Theodora Büttner, : ''Circumcellionen und Adamiten, 2 Formen mittelalterlicheb Haeresie'', Akamedmie-Verlag, Berlin 1959 (''Forschungen zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte'', Band 2). * Thea Büttner: ''Die sozialökonomische Struktur Adamauas im 19. Jahrhundert,'' Leipzig 1965, (

Habilitationsschrift Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

11. Juni 1965). * * Theodora Büttner (Hrsg.): ''Geschichte Afrikas'', 4 Bände, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin / Pahl-Rugenstein, Köln, 1976 bis 1984 (die 2. Auflage Köln 1985 unter dem Titel: ''Afrika: Geschichte von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart''): ** Teil 1: Thea Büttner: ''Afrika von den Anfängen bis zur territorialen Aufteilung Afrikas durch die imperialistischen Kolonialmächte'' 1976, 1985, . ** Teil 2: Heinrich Loth: ''Afrika unter imperialistischer Kolonialherrschaft und die Formierung der antikolonialen Kräfte, 1884–1945 ''1976, 1985, ** Teil 3: Christian Mährdel u.a.: ''Afrika vom Zweiten Weltkriege bis zum Zusammenbruch des imperialistischen Kolonialsystems''. 1983, 1985, . ** Teil 4: Tea Büttner: ''Afrika vom Zusammenbruch des imperialistischen Kolonialsystems bis zur Gegenwart''. 1984, 1985, . * Thea Büttner, Albin Kress (Hrsg.): ''African studies = Afrika Studien'' Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1990. (''Studien über Asien, Afrika und Lateinamerika'', Band 40).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Büttner, Theodora 1930 births Living people People from Thum Socialist Unity Party of Germany members Free German Youth members 20th-century German historians German Africanists German women historians Academic staff of Leipzig University Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin East German women 20th-century German women