Oswald von Nell-Breuning (8 March 1890 – 21 August 1991) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

theologian and sociologist. Born in

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

into an aristocratic family, Nell-Breuning was ordained in 1921 and appointed Professor of Ethics at the

Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology (German: ''Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen'') is a higher education Jesuit college in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The school offers a 10-semester Magister in Catholic Th ...

in 1928. He was instrumental in the drafting of Pope Pius XI's social encyclical '' Quadragesimo anno'' (1931), which – like the earlier '' Rerum novarum'' (1891), after which it was named – dealt with the "Social Question" and developed the principle of subsidiarity. Nell-Breuning was not allowed to publish from 1936 to the end of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1945. After the war he lectured as an honorary professor at

Goethe University Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

at later established his own "Akademie der Arbeit" (Academy of Work). He exerted a strong influence on the social policy program of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and had a close relationship with the German trade unions. He died in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

References

Oswald von Nell-Breuning (1890-1991)—Katholischer Sozialethiker, Sozialphilosoph und Sozialwissenschaftler
1890 births 1991 deaths German centenarians 20th-century German Jesuits People from Trier 20th-century German Catholic theologians People from the Rhine Province German male non-fiction writers Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Men centenarians {{Germany-theologian-stub