Today marks the birthday of the influential philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), born in Hanover and raised in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) and Berlin. Arendt, a co-founder of the Leo Baeck Institute London, is renowned for her profound impact on political thought and her dedication to preserving Jewish cultural heritage.
After studying philosophy, theology, and Greek at the University of Marburg, Arendt earned her doctorate in 1929 under Karl Jaspers at the University of Heidelberg, focusing on the concept of love in Augustine’s work. Following the Nazi rise to power in 1933, she fled Germany and settled in Paris, where she worked with Jewish refugee organisations. In 1941, Arendt escaped to the United States, where she became an influential writer and editor.
Arendt’s scholarship includes The Origins of Totalitarianism, where she traced the roots of totalitarianism to antisemitism and imperialism, and Eichmann in Jerusalem, where she coined the concept of ‘the banality of evil’. Alongside her theoretical contributions, Arendt played a crucial role in post-war efforts to recover and restitute Jewish cultural artefacts looted by the Nazis, through her leadership at Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc.
Her work continues to shape discussions on power, democracy, and justice, and today, on what would have been her 118th birthday, her legacy remains as impactful as ever.
You can find out more about Hannah Arendt in her profile on our website ‘The Library of Lost Books’: https://libraryoflostbooks.com/reading-room/hannah-arendt/
