© David Ausserhofer
We are sad to announce that Wolfgang Edelstein, long-term friend and supporter of AME and recipient of the Kuhmerker Career Award, died on February 29 at the age of 90.
Wolfgang Edelstein was born in 1929 in Freiburg. In 1938, he and his family fled Nazi Germany to Iceland, an experience that greatly impacted his life. Wolfgang studied linguistics, philosophy, ancient and modern languages, and educational science in France and Germany. He began teaching at the Odenwaldschule, a private boarding school in 1954. There he met Hellmut Becker who founded the new Max-Planck Institute for Human Development and Education in 1963. In 1982, Wolfgang became Director of the Research Center for Development and Socialization at this institute. After retiring from this role in 1997, he spearheaded projects that furthered democracy within the reunified Germany, as the founder and longtime leader of the German Society for Democracy Education. He authored numerous texts on right-wing extremism and, in particular, right-wing extremist youth culture.
Wolfgang was a man of exceptional intellect and great interpersonal warmth. He was deeply committed to the project of translating developmental research into educational practices that would sustain and further democratic society. We will deeply miss him.