Wolf Lepenies

Wolf Lepenies (born January 11, 1941 in Allenstein, East Prussia, now Olsztyn, Poland) is a German sociologist, political scientist, and author.

Lepenies grew up in Koblenz, where his family moved after World War II. He studied sociology and philosophy at the University of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia and graduated with a promotion in 1967. In 1970 he habilitated at the Free University of Berlin. He traveled abroad, first to the Maison des sciences de l’homme in Paris, then to the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. In 1984 he joined the faculty of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin before becoming a professor of sociology at the Free University of Berlin. He frequently returned to Princeton to conduct research. In 1986 he succeeded Peter Wapnewski as president of the Wissenschaftskolleg. In 2001 he was succeeded by Dieter Grimm. In 2006 he became a professor emeritus.

Since 2004 he has been a member of the supervisory board of Axel Springer AG.

Awards and honors

*1984 - Alexander von Humboldt Prize
*1988 - Karl-Vossler-Preis
*1998 - Leibniz Ring Hannover
*1999 - Joseph Breitbach Prize
*2000 - Theodor Heuss Prize
*2003 - Leibniz Medal from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
*2006 - Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels (awarded by Andrei Plesu)

Selected works

* "Melancholie und Gesellschaft", 1969 (his 1967 doctoral dissertation)
* Mit Hans Henning Ritter: "Orte des wilden Denkens. Zur Anthropologie von Claude Levi-Strauss", 1970
* "Soziologische Anthropologie. Materialien", 1971
* "Das Ende der Naturgeschichte. Wandel kultureller Selbstverständlichkeiten", 1976
* "Geschichte der Soziologie" (in vier Bänden), 1981
* "Die drei Kulturen. Soziologie zwischen Literatur und Wissenschaft", 1985
* "Autoren und Wissenschaftler im 18. Jahrhundert. Linné - Buffon - Winckelmann - Georg Forster - Erasmus Darwin", 1988
* "Gefährliche Wahlverwandtschaften. Essays zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte", 1989
* "Folgen einer unerhörten Begebenheit. Die Deutschen nach der Vereinigung", 1992
* "Aufstieg und Fall der Intellektuellen in Europa", 1992
* "Sainte-Beuve. Auf der Schwelle zur Moderne", 1997
* "Benimm und Erkenntnis", 1997
* "Sozialwissenschaft und sozialer Wandel. Ein Erfahrungsbericht", 1999
* "Kultur und Politik. Deutsche Geschichten", 2006
* "The Seduction of Culture in German History", 2006