125 years of Erich Fromm

Press kit
for the 125th birthday
of Erich Fromm

On this page we have compiled all the important information on the birthday of the humanist, psychoanalyst and social psychologist.

Press release on the 125th birthday of Erich Fromm

Many interpret Trump’s presidency and the rise of the political right, particularly in Western European countries, as a return of authoritarianism. The concept of the

authoritarian character was developed by the psychoanalyst and social psychologist Erich Fromm at the Institute for Social Research in the 1930s and still helps to explain power structures in autocratic states today. However, Fromm recognized the importance of narcissism and group narcissism as early as the 1960s. Unlike authoritarianism, narcissism is not about domination and subservience, but about experiencing greatness and identifying with great ideas, people and organizations. This makes it much easier to understand why people are inclined to vote for narcissistic people and agree with nationalistic, xenophobic programs.

Erich Fromm’s insights are still highly topical. In the second half of the 20th century, Erich Fromm was one of the best-known and most influential thought leaders for a humane society. His humanism can be read as a corrective to the development of digital capitalism, which seeks to atrophy humanity and the ability to think and feel for oneself through algorithmic control.

Fromm’s 125th birthday on March 23, 2025 should therefore be an occasion to engage with him, his perspectives and insights. Material for TV, radio, podcasts and print media and other useful information can be found here on this page.

Download press release (German)

Anniversary events

Here you can see an overview of all events relating to Erich Fromm’s 125th birthday.

Photos

The following photos can be used freely for articles on Erich Fromm’s 125th birthday. Click on the thumbnail to open the full-size file.

Fromm-Knowers: For interviews, presentations and contributions

The persons named on the list, headed by the Director of the Erich Fromm Institute and the Chairman of the International Erich Fromm Society, have declared their willingness to collaborate on projects and productions in connection with the 125th anniversary of Erich Fromm’s birth.

List of Erich Fromm experts

New Erich-Fromm title at DTV

 

A new Erich Fromm paperback is published by dtv Verlagsgesellschaft in time for the 125th anniversary of his birth: “Humanism in Times of Crisis – Texts on the Future of Humanity”

Publisher’s announcement

Erich Fromm websites

Here you will find the most important websites and the corresponding URLs for Erich Fromm.

Tabular biography of Erich Fromm

Tabular biography

Biography on the 125th birthday and other biographies about Erich Fromm

Jürgen Hardeck: Erich Fromm. Life and work

(Updated new edition for the 125th birthday of Erich Fromm, Wiesbaden, Marix Verlag, approx. 320 p., to be published in February 2025)

Jürgen Hardeck, Chairman of the International Erich Fromm Society and State Secretary for Culture in Rhineland-Palatinate, is publishing an updated new edition of his highly informative and knowledgeable biography of Erich Fromm after 20 years and in time for his 125th birthday.

“There are authors and thinkers whose popularity does not prevent them from being underestimated; indeed, the one circumstance seems to almost necessitate the other. Erich Fromm belongs to this category. […] Erich Fromm’s clear-sighted analysis of narcissism and the necrophiliac character are milestones in socio-critical psychoanalysis. Erich Fromm achieved what few figures in European intellectual history have managed to do: to orient his life around the maxims he taught. At least this is the view of his biographer Jürgen Hardeck, who reexamines his person and work in a very precise, respectful and almost affectionate way.”

This is what Gudrun Braunsperger wrote on April 26, 2008 in the Austrian daily newspaper Die PRESSE about Jürgen Hardeck’s biography of Erich Fromm. In fact, Hardeck shows the development of the social psychologist and humanist Erich Fromm through a profound analysis of his writings and thus makes clear the topicality of his thinking for the present. Above all, Hardeck succeeds in working out the intellectual, cultural, political and social context in which Fromm developed his theories and wrote his books. No one has ever done this in such a knowledgeable way before and it is also what distinguishes the updated new edition.

More biographies about Erich Fromm

Videos and audios by and with Erich Fromm

A large number of original video and audio contributions with Erich Fromm can be found on the YouTube channels of the

International Erich Fromm Society and the Erich Fromm Study Center. An overview of the most important contributions with direct links can be found here:

Lectures and interviews

Previous audio and film contributions about Erich Fromm

An overview of all audio and film contributions about Erich Fromm by German-speaking broadcasters can be found here:

Sound and film contributions