Ferdinand Tönnies
| Ferdinand Tönnies | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
26 July 1855 near Oldenswort, Eiderstedt, North Frisia, Schleswig |
| Died | 9 April 1936 (aged 80) Kiel, Nazi Germany |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Fields | Sociology |
| Institutions | University of Kiel |
| Alma mater |
University of Jena University of Bonn University of Leipzig University of Berlin University of Tübingen |
| Known for | Sociological Theory; distinction between two types of social groups, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft |
Ferdinand Tönnies (German: [ˈtœniːs]; 26 July 1855, near Oldenswort, Eiderstedt, North Frisia, Schleswig – 9 April 1936, Kiel, Germany) was a German sociologist and philosopher. He was a major contributor to sociological theory and field studies, best known for his distinction between two types of social groups, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. He co-founded the German Society for Sociology, of which he was president from 1909 to 1933, after which he was ousted for having criticized the Nazis. Tönnies was considered the first German sociologist proper, published over 900 works and contributed to many areas of sociology and philosophy.
Ferdinand Tönnies was born into a wealthy farmer's family in North Frisia, Schleswig, then under Danish rule. He studied at the universities of Jena, Bonn, Leipzig, Berlin, and Tübingen. He received a doctorate in Tübingen in 1877 (with a Latin thesis on the ancient Siwa Oasis). Four years later he became a private lecturer at the University of Kiel. He held this post at the University of Kiel for only three years. Because he sympathized with the Hamburg dockers' strike of 1896, the conservative Prussian government considered him to be a social democrat, and Tönnies would not be called to a professorial chair until 1913. He returned to Kiel as a professor emeritus in 1921 and taught until 1933 when he was ousted by the Nazis, due to earlier publications in which he had criticized them. Remaining in Kiel, he died three years later.
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