Theodor W. Adorno

Theodor W. Adorno, son of a Jewish merchant, was born on September 11, 1903, in Frankfurt. After graduating from high school, he studied philosophy, sociology, psychology, and musicology at the University of Frankfurt. In 1924, he earned his doctorate with a dissertation on Husserl. During his studies, he simultaneously worked as a music critic. In 1925, he moved to Vienna, where he continued his music studies under Alban Berg (composition) and Eduard Steuermann (piano). In 1927, his first attempt to obtain the title of lecturer under Hans Cornelius was unsuccessful. From the late 1920s, Adorno became an informal collaborator of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt. In 1931, he obtained the title of lecturer with a dissertation on Kierkegaard, supervised by Paul Tillich. In 1933, he was prohibited from teaching at German universities. In 1934, he emigrated to England and began teaching at the University of Oxford. In 1938, he emigrated to the United States, where he worked at the Institute for Social Research, which had already relocated to New York. Simultaneously, he collaborated with Paul Lazarsfeld on the Princeton Radio Research Project. In 1949, he returned to Germany and taught philosophy and sociology at the University of Frankfurt. Together with Horkheimer, he directed the Institute for Social Research. In 1959, Adorno succeeded Horkheimer as the director of the Institute for Social Research, with Horkheimer becoming an emeritus professor and retiring. In 1961, the well-known "positivism dispute" began, a debate between Karl Popper and Adorno regarding methodological issues in the social sciences. In 1968, serious conflicts with students began. On January 31, 1969, Adorno called the police to remove students who had occupied the Institute for Social Research. He died of a heart attack on August 6, 1969, in Visp, Switzerland.