Austrian theorist and author (died 1999)

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn was an Austrian-American nobleman and polymath, whose areas of interest included philosophy, history, political science, economics, linguistics, art and theology. He opposed the ideas of the French Revolution, as well as those of communism and Nazism. Describing himself as a "conservative arch-liberal" or "extreme liberal", Kuehnelt-Leddihn often argued that majority rule in democracies is a threat to individual liberties. He declared himself a monarchist and an enemy of all forms of totalitarianism, although he also supported what he defined as "non-democratic republics", such as Switzerland and the early United States.

Born

1909

July 31

Died

Living

Era

1900s

Country

—

About

Erik, in brief

Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn was an Austrian-American nobleman and polymath, whose areas of interest included philosophy, history, political science, economics, linguistics, art and theology. He opposed the ideas of the French Revolution, as well as those of communism and Nazism. Describing himself as a "conservative arch-liberal" or "extreme liberal", Kuehnelt-Leddihn often argued that majority rule in democracies is a threat to individual liberties. He declared himself a monarchist and an enemy of all forms of totalitarianism, although he also supported what he defined as "non-democratic republics", such as Switzerland and the early United States.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1909 Born

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What else happened on this day, through history

-30 Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
781 The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: Sixth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Ten'o (天応) era).
1009 Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
1201 Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.

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The world in 1909

When Erik arrived

april 11 The city of Tel Aviv is founded.
april 13 The 31 March Incident leads to the overthrow of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
april 14 Muslims in the Ottoman Empire begin a massacre of Armenians in Adana.
april 18 Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on July 31

Bernard Nathanson 1926–2011 American physician and activist (born 1926) Billy Hitchcock 1916–2006 American baseball player, coach, manager (born 1916) Emilia Fox 1974– English actress Evgeni Malkin 1986– Russian ice hockey player Fred Quimby 1886–1965 American animation producer (died 1965) Hank Bauer 1922–2007 American baseball player and manager (born 1922) Hilary Putnam 1926–2016 American mathematician, computer scientist, and philosopher (died 2016) Jean Dubuffet 1901–1985 French painter and sculptor (died 1985) John Searle 1932– American philosopher and academic (died 2025)

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1909

Adam von Trott zu Solz 1909–1944 German lawyer and diplomat (born 1909) Bruce Matthews 1909–1991 Canadian general and businessman (died 1991) Clyde Barrow 1909–1934 American criminal (died 1934) E. Herbert Norman 1909–1957 Canadian historian and diplomat (born 1909) Elisabeth Geleerd 1909–1969 Dutch-American psychoanalyst (died 1969) Elizabeth Enright 1909–1968 American author and illustrator (born 1909) Eugène Ionesco 1909–1994 Romanian-French playwright and critic (born 1909) Evelyn Wood 1909– American author and educator (died 1995) Gottfried von Cramm 1909– German tennis player (died 1976)

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Erik's birthday July 31 Erik's zodiac Leo When Erik arrived 1909