Georges Friedmann facts for kids

Georges Philippe Friedmann (born May 13, 1902 – died November 15, 1977) was a French sociologist and philosopher. He was well-known for his important ideas about how working in factories affected people. He also criticized the way technology was being used without much thought in the 1900s, especially in Europe and the United States.

Friedmann was the third president of the International Sociological Association from 1956 to 1959. This is a big group for sociologists around the world.

Life Story

Georges Friedmann was the youngest child of Adolphe Friedmann and Elizabeth Nathan. His father was a merchant from Berlin, Germany. Georges was born in Paris, France, where his parents had moved. In 1903, his family became French citizens.

Early Education

Friedmann first studied industrial chemistry for a short time. Later, he prepared for a special exam to teach philosophy at the famous Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. From 1923 to 1926, he studied philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure. He also worked as an assistant at a social science research center. This center was called the Centre de documentation sociale.

Family and War

When his father passed away in 1929, Friedmann inherited a lot of money. He used some of this money to help pay for magazines started by his friends. He later gave a large part of his money to the Fondation Curie for cancer research. After he died, some paintings he owned were given to the Louvre museum.

In 1937, Friedmann married his first wife, Hania Olszweska. They had a daughter named Liliane in 1941. After Hania died in 1957, Friedmann married Marcelle Rémond in 1960.

During World War II, Friedmann joined the French Resistance. This was a group that fought against the Nazi occupation of France. He was hunted by the Nazi Gestapo because of his activities. He wrote in his journals that he escaped the Gestapo in 1943. He was hidden in a school by two young teachers. His wartime journals were published after his death. They shared his experiences as a member of the resistance.

Friedmann always considered himself a secular Jew. This means he was Jewish by background but not religious. However, the terrible events of the Holocaust and his later visits to the young state of Israel made him feel more connected to the Jewish people.

In 1946, he earned his highest university degree, a Doctorat d'état. His main project was about machines in factories. His other project was about the philosophers Leibniz and Baruch Spinoza. Both of these projects were later published as books.

Important Work

At the École Normale Supérieure, Friedmann was part of a group called Philosophies. This group helped bring the ideas of Karl Marx to France. Friedmann used his own money to fund their early magazines.

Travels and Observations

In the 1930s, Friedmann traveled to the Soviet Union several times. He studied their factories and technology. His 1938 book, De la Sainte Russie à l’U.R.S.S., made him an expert on Soviet society in France. Even his mild criticisms of the Soviet Union and Stalin caused problems with the French Communist Party. This led Friedmann to step back from political activism.

Focus on Industrial Work

Friedmann's main doctoral project, published in 1946, looked at the "human problems" caused by machines in factories. He studied how different ways of managing factories, like scientific management (which breaks down tasks into small steps) and industrial psychology, tried to make factory work better for people. Friedmann believed that while these efforts were an improvement, real change would only happen if workers fought for their rights and the economic system changed.

Friedmann's book is seen as a founding text of French sociologie du travail (sociology of work). He played a big part in restarting French sociology after World War II. He helped create important research centers like the Centre d'études sociologues. Many influential students, such as Alain Touraine and Michel Crozier, studied with him. They did some of the first studies on factory work in France. Friedmann also started another center, the Centre d'études de communications de masse (CECMAS).

Friedmann continued to travel widely. He observed and wrote about work practices in the United States, Israel, and South America. His book The End of the Jewish People? looked at the nature of the Jewish people and Israeli society. This book, one of the few translated into English, got a lot of attention.

Over time, Friedmann's focus shifted from just labor to a broader concern with "technical civilization." His last book, La Puissance et la Sagesse, was part autobiography and part reflection on modern society. In it, he changed some of his earlier Marxist ideas. He stressed the importance of inner thoughts and morals in making post-war consumer society more human.