Guenther Roth (

German spelling German orthography is the orthography used in writing the German language, which is largely phonemic. However, it shows many instances of spellings that are historic or analogous to other spellings rather than phonemic. The pronunciation of alm ...

Günther Roth; 12 January 1931 – 18 May 2019) was a German-American sociologist. He was recognized as the leading scholar, translator and editor of the work of

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

in the English-speaking world; together with Claus Wittich, he translated and edited the first complete version of Weber's classic ''

Economy and Society ''Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology'' (1921; ; or simply ''Economy and Society'') is a book by political economist and sociologist Max Weber, published posthumously in Germany by his wife Marianne. Alongside ''The Prot ...

'' in English. He was

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Later, his research interest extended to the biographical aspects of the sociological classics, in particular the genealogy of Weber's family. Roth studied at

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research 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 wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

under

Theodor W. Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( ; ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, musicologist, and social theorist. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, whose work has com ...

Max Horkheimer Max Horkheimer ( ; ; 14 February 1895 – 7 July 1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist best known for his role in developing critical theory as director of the Institute for Social Research, commonly associated with the Frankfurt Schoo ...

and Friedrich Pollock and worked at the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt. He arrived in the United States in 1953 and completed his graduate studies at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. In 1960, he obtained a PhD under Reinhard Bendix with a dissertation on the development of

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

(1871–1918). Roth became a U.S. citizen in 1963. He taught at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

from 1970 until 1988 and then at Columbia University until his retirement in 1997. He was married to Columbia historian Caroline Bynum. He died on May 18, 2019.

Selected works in English

*''The Social Democrats in Imperial Germany. A Study in Working-Class Isolation and National Integration.'' Totowa: Bedminster Press, 1963; re-issue New York: Arno Press, 1979. *''Scholarship and Partisanship. Essays on Max Weber.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971 (with Reinhard Bendix) *''Max Weber’s Vision of History. Ethics and Methods'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979 (with Wolfgang Schluchter) *''Weber’s ‘Protestant Ethic’: Origins, Evidence, Contexts.'' New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993 (edited with Hartmut Lehmann)

References

Sources

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External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Guenther 1931 births 2019 deaths People from Groß-Gerau (district) People from the People's State of Hesse Max Weber scholars German sociologists American sociologists Emigrants from West Germany to the United States University of California, Berkeley alumni Goethe University Frankfurt alumni Columbia University faculty University of Washington faculty