Else Freiin von Richthofen (October 8, 1874 - December 22, 1973) was among the early female social scientists in Germany.

Life and career

Elisabeth Helene Amalie Sophie Freiin (Baroness) von Richthofen (also known as Else Jaffé) was born into the

German nobility The German nobility (german: deutscher Adel) and royalty were status groups of the medieval society in Central Europe, which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the German-speaking area, until the be ...

Château-Salins Château-Salins (; , from 1941–44 ''Salzburgen'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Until 2015, Château-Salins was a subprefecture of the Moselle department. History The town is relatively recent. T ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

). Her father was Friedrich Ernst Emil Ludwig Freiherr von Richthofen (1844-1915), an engineer in the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the ...

, and Anna Elise Lydia Marquier (1852-1930). While Else von Richthofen started her professional career as a teacher, she enrolled at

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

at a time when this was still very unusual for women; she was one of just four female students at the time. She earned a doctorate in economics in 1901 and started to work as a labour inspector in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...

. She married (1865-1921), another former student of

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist and political economy, political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of Modernity, ...

, in 1902, and he was a well-known economist and entrepreneur. It was Jaffé who bought the journal '' Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik'' of which Max Weber became one of the editors. With Jaffé, she had three children, Friedel (born 1903), Marianne (born 1905) and Hans (born 1909). Else became acquainted to intellectuals and authors, including the sociologists and economists Max Weber and Alfred Weber, the

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

Otto Gross, the writer Fanny zu Reventlow and others. She started an affair with Otto Gross with whom she had a fourth child, Peter (1907-ca. 1915). She also had an affair with her former professor Max Weber and his brother Alfred Weber, with whom she lived together in the same house for several years after her husband died.

References

External links

finding aid for Else von Richthofen papers, 1898-1985
at Tufts Digital Collections and Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Richtofen, Else von German baronesses Else von Richthofen 1874 births 1973 deaths

Life and career

References

Further reading

External links