Max Horkheimer

Max Horkheimer was born in 1895 in Zuffenhausen/Stuttgart. After studying Psychology and Philosophy and gaining his Ph.D. he qualified as a professor in 1926 with a paper about Kant. In 1930 he was appointed full Professor of Social Philosophy. In addition to Erich Fromm and Herbert Marcuse, Horkheimer was one of the co-founders of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main, which he became the Director of in 1931. In 1933 he emigrated and set up branches of the Institute, firstly in Geneva, later in Paris, finally at the Columbia University in New York. Upon his return to Frankfurt, Horkheimer established the Institute for Social Research again in 1950. From 1951 to 1952 he was Vice-Chancellor of Frankfurt University. He died in 1973.