Eric Voegelin

Eric Voegelin (born Erich Hermann Wilhelm Vögelin; German: [ˈføːgəliːn]; January 3, 1901 – January 19, 1985) was a German-born American political philosopher. He was born in Cologne, and educated in political science at the University of Vienna, at which he became an associate professor of political science at the Faculty of Law. In 1938 he and his wife fled from the Nazi forces which had entered Vienna, and emigrated to the United States, where they became citizens in 1944. He spent most of his academic career at the University of Notre Dame, Louisiana State University, the University of Munich and the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.

Although he was born in Cologne in 1901, his parents moved to Vienna in 1910, and Eric Voegelin eventually studied at the University of Vienna. The advisers on his dissertation were Hans Kelsen and Othmar Spann. After his habilitation there in 1928 he taught political theory and sociology. While in Austria Voegelin established the beginnings of his long lasting friendships with Alfred Schütz and F. A. Hayek. Between 1933 and 1938 he published four books criticizing Nazi racism, and as a result of the Anschluss with Germany in 1938 he was fired from his job. Narrowly avoiding being arrested by the Gestapo, and after a brief stay in Switzerland, he arrived in the United States. He taught at various universities before joining Louisiana State University's Department of Government in 1942.