PHILOSOPHER

Walter Benjamin

1892 - 1940

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Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; German: [ˈvaltɐ ˈbɛnjamiːn]; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mysticism, Benjamin made enduring and influential contributions to aesthetic theory, literary criticism, and historical materialism. He was associated with the Frankfurt School, and also maintained formative friendships with thinkers such as playwright Bertolt Brecht and Kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholem. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Walter Benjamin has received more than 1,964,949 page views. His biography is available in 67 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 66 in 2019). Walter Benjamin is the 96th most popular philosopher (down from 83rd in 2019), the 117th most popular biography from Germany (down from 102nd in 2019) and the 13th most popular Philosopher.

Walter Benjamin was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, and essayist. His most famous work is "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction."

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.0M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 74.25

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 67

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 10.33

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.15

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Walter Benjamin ranks 96 out of 1,081. Before him are Leucippus, John of Damascus, Zeno of Citium, Tertullian, Johann Gottfried Herder, and Anaximenes of Miletus. After him are Mencius, Zhuang Zhou, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Isidore of Seville, Roland Barthes, and Ibn Taymiyyah.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1892, Walter Benjamin ranks 5. Before him are J. R. R. Tolkien, Josip Broz Tito, Francisco Franco, and Haile Selassie. After him are Louis de Broglie, Manfred von Richthofen, Ivo Andrić, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Pearl S. Buck, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, and Martin Niemöller. Among people deceased in 1940, Walter Benjamin ranks 7. Before him are Leon Trotsky, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Selma Lagerlöf, Neville Chamberlain, Paul Klee, and Mikhail Bulgakov. After him are J. J. Thomson, Robert Wadlow, Nikolai Yezhov, Emma Goldman, Carl Bosch, and Peter Behrens.

Others Born in 1892

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Others Deceased in 1940

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In Germany

Among people born in Germany, Walter Benjamin ranks 117 out of 6,142. Before him are Carl Orff (1895), Leopold Mozart (1719), Erich Honecker (1912), Ernst Röhm (1887), Frederick III, German Emperor (1831), and George II of Great Britain (1683). After him are Henry the Fowler (876), Theodor W. Adorno (1903), Gerd von Rundstedt (1875), Clara Zetkin (1857), George I of Great Britain (1660), and Georg Philipp Telemann (1681).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In Germany

Among philosophers born in Germany, Walter Benjamin ranks 13. Before him are Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762), Karl Jaspers (1883), Jürgen Habermas (1929), Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775), Nicholas of Cusa (1401), and Carl von Clausewitz (1780). After him are Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767), Friedrich Fröbel (1782), Meister Eckhart (1260), Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776), Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900), and Oswald Spengler (1880).

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