Waldemar Gurian (February 13, 1902 – May 26, 1954) was a Russian-born German-American
political scientist
Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...
, author, and professor at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
. He is regarded particularly as a theorist of
totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
. He wrote widely on
political Catholicism
The Catholic Church and politics concerns the interplay of Catholicism with religious, and later secular, politics. Historically, the Church opposed liberal ideas such as democracy, freedom of speech, and the separation of church and state unde ...
.
Gurian was born into a Armenian-Jewish family in 1902 in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was brought to Germany in 1911 by his mother, who had him christened in 1914 as a Catholic. He studied with political philosopher
Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt (; 11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, political theorist, and prominent member of the Nazi Party. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. A conservative theorist, he is noted as a ...
at the University of Bonn but disagreed on issues of
political theology
Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term ''political theology'' is often used to denote religious thought about political principled qu ...
. In 1939 after escaping Nazi Germany Gurian took a professorship at Notre Dame, where Gurian founded ''The Review of Politics''. The quarterly scholarly journal was modeled after German Catholic journals. It quickly emerged as part of an international Catholic intellectual revival, offering an alternative vision to positivist philosophy. For 44 years, the ''Review'' was edited by Gurian,
Matthew Fitzsimons, Frederick Crosson, and Thomas Stritch. Intellectual leaders included Gurian,
Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas fo ...
,
Frank O'Malley, Leo Richard Ward, F. A. Hermens, and
John U. Nef. It became a major forum for political ideas and modern political concerns, especially from a Catholic and scholastic tradition.
[Thomas Stritch, "After Forty Years: Notre Dame and the Review of Politics" ''Review Of Politics'' 1978 40: 437–446]
in JSTOR
/ref>
Selected bibliography
For a complete list, see B. Szczesniak, "Select Bibliography of Waldemar Gurian." ''The Review of Politics'' 17.01 (1955): 80-81.
* ''The political system of Alexander Hamilton, 1789–1804'', 1929.
* ''The political and social ideas of French Catholicism, 1789-1914'', 1929.
* ''The integral nationalism in France: Charles Maurras and the Action Française'', 1931.
* ''Bolshevism: Theory and Practice'', New York, Macmillan, 1932.
* ''Hitler and the Christians. Studies in Fascism: Ideology and Practice'', AMS Press, 1936, 175 p.
* ''The Future of Bolshevism'', Sheed & Ward, 1936, 125 p.
* ''The Rise and Decline of Marxism'', Oates & Washbourne, 1938, 184 p.
* ''Russia and the Peace'', 1945.
* ''Soviet Russia: A University of Notre Dame Symposium'', University of Notre Dame, 1950.
"The Development of the Soviet Regime: From Lenin to Stalin"
''The Soviet Union: Background, Ideology, Reality'', University of Notre Dame Press, 1951.
* ''Bolshevism: An Introduction to Soviet Communism'', University of Notre Dame Press, 1952.
* ''Soviet Imperialism: Its Origins and Tactics, a Symposium'', (ed.), University of Notre Dame Press, 1953.
* ''The Catholic Church in World Affairs'' (with M. A. Fitzsimons), University of Notre Dame Press, 1954, 420 p.
* "Totalitarianism as Political Religion", ''Totalitarianism'', New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1964.
Notes
Further reading
* Arendt, Hannah
Hannah Arendt (, , ; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor. She is widely considered to be one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century.
Arendt was born ...
. "The Personality of Waldemar Gurian." ''The Review of Politics'' 17.01 (1955): 33-42
in JSTOR
* Hürten, Heinz. "Waldemar Gurian and the Development of the Concept of Totalitarianism." ''Totalitarianism and Political Religions'' 1 (2004): 42-52.
* Kohn, Hans. "Waldemar Gurian: Witness of the Twentieth Century." ''The Review of Politics'' 17.01 (1955): 73-79
in JSTOR
* Mosely, Philip E. "Waldemar Gurian and Russian Studies in America." ''The Review of Politics'' 17.01 (1955): 44-46
in JSTOR
* O'Malley, Frank. "Waldemar Gurian at Notre Dame." ''The Review of Politics'' 17.01 (1955): 19-23
in JSTOR
* Schneck, Stephen F. "Waldemar Gurian: Rediscovered," ''The Review of Politics'' 74#4 (2012), pp. 685–689
in JSTOR
* Thümmler, Ellen. "Totalitarian Ideology and Power Conflicts—Waldemar Gurian as International Relations Analyst after the Second World War." in Felix Roesch, ed., ''Émigré Scholars and the Genesis of International Relations'' (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2014) pp. 132–153.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurian, Waldemar
American political scientists
German political scientists
American anti-fascists
German anti-fascists
American Roman Catholics
German Roman Catholics
Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
1902 births
1954 deaths
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany
German emigrants to the United States
20th-century political scientists