TÖNNIES, FERDINAND. — Sociologist, b. at Oldensworth (Schleswig) on July 26, 1855, d. Apr. 9, 1936.
After earning a doctorate in philosophy, he devoted himself to social studies. In 1881 he became a *libero docente* at the University of Kiel and later held the positions of associate professor (1891), extraordinary professor (1908), and full professor (1933). He served as a councilor in Regensburg. In recognition of his eminence, he was awarded honorary doctorates in law and political science; he was president of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie and of the International Hobbesian Society, and a member of the most renowned international scientific academies. The central point of his sociological thought lies in his distinction between the two stages of *Gemeinschaft* and *Gesellschaft*; the latter, which is a conscious and free creation of man, represents the endpoint of the historical process that departs from the naturalness of the former.
Among his principal works are: *Hobbes Leben und Lehre* (Stuttgart 1896 and 1925); *Über die Grundsatzschaden des sozialen Lebens* (Bern 1897); *Das Wesen der Soziologie* (Dresden 1907); *Die Entwicklung der sozialen Frage* (Leipzig 1907 and 1919); *Die Sitte* (Frankfurt am Main 1909); *Weltkrieg und Völkerrecht* (Berlin 1917); *Kritik der öffentlichen Meinung* (ibid. 1922); *Soziologische Studien und Kritiken* (Jena 1925-26); *Einführung in die Soziologie* (Stuttgart 1934); *Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft* (Leipzig 1926 and 1935).