Hermens, Ferdinand A. (Ferdinand Aloys), 1906-1998

Dr. Ferdinand A. Hermens spent his life researching, writing, and educating others about the interrelationship of political and economic institutions, the political consequences of constitutional forms, and the various models of proportional representation. Ferdinand Aloys Hermens was born on December 20, 1906 in Nieheim, Germany. He began his studies in political and economic science in 1925 and studied at the Universities of Muenster, Freiburg, Berlin, and Bonn. He was awarded a degree in economics from the University Bonn in 1928 (summa cum laude). Two years later he completed his Ph. D. in economics at the University of Bonn. He continued to study economic theory at the Faculte de Droit in Paris, France, and the Kiel Institute of World Economics at the University of Kiel, Germany until 1932. In 1932, as he was preparing to accept a full time faculty position in the Economics Department at the University of Bonn, the National Socialist Party (Nazi Party) blocked his appointment and suggested he leave Germany. The party had identified him as a dissident because of his writings concerning political sociology, representative institutions, and research into anti-parliamentary forms of government. Throughout his career Dr. Hermens work was widely published in various prestigious scholarly and popular journals and periodicals. His opinions and research into political and economic thought and practice was held in high esteem by professional and governmental authorities. His works began to be circulated in Germany during the 1930s and continued to be published in several different languages worldwide. He continued his educational career as a research professor at American University in Washington, DC, from 1977 to 1989 and returned to the Catholic University of America as a visiting professor from 1989 to 1998. He continued his research and writing up until his death in Rockville, MD, on February 2, 1998.

From the description of The Ferdinand Aloys Hermens papers. 1915-1998. (Catholic University of America). WorldCat record id: 68725545