Leo Strauss

Born into an Orthodox Jewish family, Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was born in Hesse, Germany. After completing his secondary education and participating in World War I, he studied at the universities of Marburg and Hamburg. Upon completing his doctoral dissertation, dedicated to the philosopher Jacobi, he worked at the University of Freiburg during the time when Husserl was teaching there with his assistant Heidegger. In 1932, under the threat of rising National Socialism, he left Germany, initially moving to Paris and Cambridge, and eventually settling in the United States in 1938. He taught philosophy at universities in New York, Chicago, and Maryland, where he passed away in 1973. His major works include: "Spinoza's Critique of Religion" (1930), "The Political Philosophy of Hobbes" (1936), "Natural Right and History" (1953), and "Liberalism Ancient and Modern" (1968).