Rudi Supek (8 April 1913 –2 January 1993) was a Croatian sociologist,

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 a member of the Praxis School of Marxism. Born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Supek studied philosophy and graduated in 1937. He went to study clinical psychology in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he was when

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 ...

erupted. He joined the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

, but soon was captured and deported to the

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

, where he took part in the Buchenwald Resistance. After the liberation, Supek went back to Paris to continue living and studying there. In 1948, after the Informbiro Resolution against

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, the leader of the French Communists

Maurice Thorez Maurice Thorez (; 28 April 1900 – 11 July 1964) was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of France from 1946 to 1947. Pre-war Thorez, ...

asked Supek, who was a member of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

, to attack

Titoism Titoism is a Types of socialism, socialist political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito and refers to the ideology and policies of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) during the Cold War. It is characterized by a br ...

. Supek refused to comply and returned to Yugoslavia. However, he did not become a member of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

. Supek earned his PhD from the Sorbonne in 1952 and started to work as a professor at the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, and at the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb. He founded the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1963. Supek became the first president of the Yugoslav Society of Psychologists, and for a period he was the president of the Yugoslav Society of Sociologists. Supek was chief editor of the journal ''Pogledi'' (''Viewpoints'') which was published from 1952 to 1954. In 1964 Supek and several colleagues from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences founded the ''Praxis'' journal. Supek was co-editor of the journal from 1967 to 1973. He initiated and became president of the management board of the Korčula Summer School. In 2004, the Croatian Sociological Association established the annual ''Rudi Supek Award'' for achievements in sociology in his honour.

Major works

Supek wrote many books and articles ranging from sociology to psychopathology, anthropology, and philosophy. His major works are: *''Existentialism and Decadence'' (1950) *''Sociology and Socialism'' (1962) *''Herbert Spencer and the Biologism in Sociology'' (1965) *''Humanist Intelligentsia and Politics'' (1969) *''Social Prejudices'' (1973) *''Participation, Workers’ Control and Self-management'' (1974) *''Living after History'' (1986)

External links

Rudi Supek Archive at marxists.org

"Marx and Revolution" (in Croatian)Ratko R. Božović "In memoriam" (in Serbian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Supek, Rudi 1913 births 1993 deaths Scientists from Zagreb University of Paris alumni Marxist theorists Croatian sociologists 20th-century Croatian philosophers French communists French sociologists Croatian communists Croatian scientists Croatian atheists Existentialists Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery French male writers Yugoslav philosophers Croatian Marxists