Hans Kohn (historian)

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Hans Kohn (born September 15, 1891 in Prague , Austria-Hungary ; died March 16, 1971 in Philadelphia ) was a philosopher and historian . Although his influence on historiography is controversial within historical studies, he is considered, alongside Carlton J. Hayes, to be a co-founder of academic research on nationalism . His 1944 work The Idea of ​​Nationalism is still standard literature on the subject today.

Life

During the First World War he was interned as a prisoner of war in Russia for five years from March 1915 . In the following years he lived in Paris and London . There he worked and wrote for Zionist organizations.

In 1925 he moved to Palestine , from there to the USA in 1934 . There he taught New History at Smith College in Northampton , Massachusetts . From 1948 to 1961 he taught at the City College of New York . He also taught at the New School for Social Research , Harvard Summer School . Through letters and meetings he became friends with other Zionists and thinkers, among others with the writers Felix Weltsch , Max Brod and Hugo Bergman from the Prague district , but also with Martin Buber and Robert Weltsch .

He wrote numerous books mainly on nationalism , Pan-Slavism and the Jewish religion . He was an early contributor to the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, where he died in 1971.

Publications (selection)

  • Nationalism. On the Significance of Nationalism in Judaism and in the Present (Vienna 1922)
  • Meaning and Fate of the Revolution (Vienna 1923)
  • The Political Idea of ​​Judaism (Munich 1924)
  • together with Robert Weltsch: Zionist Politics (Mährisch-Ostrau 1927)
  • History of the National Movement in the Orient (Berlin 1928)
  • Martin Buber, his work and his time (Dresden 1930) (new edition, continued by Robert Weltsch: Düsseldorf 1961)
  • Nationalism in the Soviet Union (Frankfurt / M. 1962)
  • The Europeanization of the Orient (Berlin 1934)
  • The idea of ​​nationalism. Origin and history up to the French Revolution (Frankfurt / M. 1962)
  • Paths and wrong ways. On the Spirit of the German Bourgeoisie (Düsseldorf 1962)
  • Citizens of many worlds. A life in the age of the world revolution (Frauenfeld 1965)

There is also a large number of works written in English.

literature

  • John F. Oppenheimer (Red.) And a .: Lexicon of Judaism. 2nd Edition. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh u. a. 1971, ISBN 3-570-05964-2 , Sp. 387 and Sp. 939.
  • Kohn, Hans. In: Lexicon of German-Jewish Authors . Volume 14: Kest – Kulk. Edited by the Bibliographia Judaica archive. Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-598-22694-2 , pp. 170-185.
  • Lutz Fiedler: Habsburg extensions. Concepts of empire in the work of Hans Kohn. In: Yearbook of the Simon Dubnow Institute. Vol. 6 (2007), pp. 477-508.
  • Romy Langeheine: From Prague to New York. Hans Kohn. An intellectual biography. Wallstein, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8353-1549-5 .
    • Review: Monika Boll: Topography of Thought. In: insight. Bulletin of the Fritz Bauer Institute . H. 14, 2015, p. 80 ( online ; with a brief description of Kohn's world of ideas)
  • Kohn, Hans. In: Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century. Volume 2: J-R. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , p. 710.
  • Dimitry Shumsky: Bilingualism and a binational idea. Prague Zionism 1900–1930 . From the Heb. by Dafna Mach. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013 ISBN 978-3-525-36955-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Romy Langeheine: From Prague to New York / Hans Kohn - An intellectual biography , Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen, 2014, ISBN 978-3-8353-1549-5 , p. 7
personal data
SURNAME Kohn, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Historian and zionist
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1971
Place of death Philadelphia