Edith Eucken-Erdsiek (born ''Edith Erdsiek''; 2 April 1896 - 22 June 1985) was a German

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and writer.

Biography

Erdsiek was born in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

, Russia Her mother was of Jewish descent, her father was from

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

. In 1904, the family moved from

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

to Germany. They first lived in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, then moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1905 where she later finished school with the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

. She studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. This is where she met

Walter Eucken Walter Eucken (; 17 January 1891 – 20 March 1950) was a German economist of the Freiburg school and father of ordoliberalism. Ordoliberalism was based on the concept of social market economy balancing free markets with regulatory oversight. The ...

.Walter Eucken und sein Werk: Rückblick auf den Vordenker der sozialen Marktwirtschaft
page 66 The couple got married in December 1920 and Edith gave up her studies. From 1925 to 1927 they lived in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

and then moved to

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. Edith Eucken-Erdsiek published her first essay in 1925 in the magazine ''Die Tatwelt''. Between 1928 and 1934 Edith was editor and publisher of ''Die Tatwelt''. She partly published her works under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

''Janus''. She gave birth to two daughters and a son in the 1930s upon which she gave up her job as publisher and editor. Eucken-Erdsiek joined the Freiburg circles in 1938 and is considered the only women who was part of the Freiburg school. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she started working as a publisher and editor again. After her husband's death in 1950, Eucken-Erdsiek worked on publishing his book ''Grundsätze der Wirtschaftspolitik''. She also contributed substantially to the founding of the

Walter Eucken Institut The Walter Eucken Institut is a German ordo-liberal economic think tank based in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Institute was founded in 1954, four years after the death of economist Walter Eucken, by a number of his fri ...

in 1954 and was dedicated to maintain personal contact to Walter Eucken's friends and students. The Eucken-Circle met up at their place in Freiburg annually. Eucken-Erdsiek wrote articles for the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'', the '' Neue Züricher Zeitung'', the '' Schweizer Monat'' and the '' Philosophische Jahrbuch'' ''(English: Yearbook of philosophy)''. She was a founding member of the Bund Freiheit der Wissenschaft ''(English literally: Union of the Freedom of Science)''. Eucken-Erdsiek died in 1985 in Freiburg.

Publications

* ''Größe und Wahn. Drei Essays über Friedrich den Großen, Napoleon und Hitler''. Tübingen 1950 * ''Unsere Gesellschaftsordnung und die radikale Linke''. Stuttgart 1971 * ''Sie prägten unser Jahrhundert. Zeitgeschichtliche Porträts ''. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1980, *''Magie der Extreme – von der Schwierigkeit einer geistigen Orientierung''. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1981,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eucken-Erdsiek, Edith 1896 births 1985 deaths 20th-century German philosophers People from Smolensk Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany Member of the Mont Pelerin Society