Then: Student

Later: German Sociologist

Ralf Dahrendorf was 15 when he was arrested and sent to a concentration camp in Poland for distributing leaflets opposing the Nazis. After he was freed in 1945, Dahrendorf studied philosophy and sociology, developing a commitment to pluralism and human freedom. In 1956, he attended a Salzburg Seminar session on American Society. Since non-Nazi academics familiar with the US were in high demand in West Germany, Dahrendorf went on to hold professorships at three German universities. He later served as a member of Germany’s parliament, a junior foreign minister, a European commissioner, and director of the London School of Economics. When he died, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “Europe has lost one of its most important thinkers and intellectuals.”