Janovsky, Lynn

Albert Salomon was born on December 8, 1891, the eldest son of the Berlin merchant Ernst Salomon and Marianne née Bunzel. The Salomon family originally had Sephardic roots, and came via Holland and Pomerania, with their ancestor Salomon Isaac settling in Berlin in 1765. Albert Salomon had a younger brother, Richard, who died in Auschwitz but whose wife and daughter were able to flee Germany. His father's sister was the social reformer Alice Salomon, known for her work in women's social welfare.

An accomplished student at school, Albert Salomon received his Abitur from the Reformgymnasium Charlottenburg in 1910. He studied first at the University of Berlin, where he found interest in the teachings of various individuals and disciplines, but especially in the work of sociologist Georg Simmel. He moved on to the University of Freiburg, was introduced to the philosophy of Heinrich Rickert, and then went to the University of Heidelberg. Here he came into contact with a diverse group of individuals and areas of study. Among very many others, these included the works of Friedrich Gundolff and Max Weber, about whom he would later write several books and articles. It was in Heidelberg that he would meet others who became well-known in sociology, such as Emil Lederer, Karl Mannheim, Gustav Radbruch and Georg Lukacs.

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