Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy (German pronunciation: [ˈɔʏɡeːn ˈʁoːzn̩ʃtɔk ˈhʏsi, ˈɔʏɡn̩ -]; July 6, 1888 – February 24, 1973)[1] was a historian and social philosopher, whose work spanned the disciplines of history, theology, sociology, linguistics and beyond.

In 1933, after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, he emigrated to the United States where he began a new academic career, initially at Harvard University and then at Dartmouth College, where he taught from 1935 to 1957.

Although never part of the mainstream of intellectual discussion during his lifetime, his work drew the attention of W. H. Auden, Harold Berman, Martin Marty, Lewis Mumford, Page Smith, and others.

In his work, Rosenstock-Huessy discussed speech and language as the dominant shaper of human character and abilities in every social context.

[4] After graduating from a secondary school (gymnasium) with very high academic standards and an emphasis on classical languages and literature, Rosenstock-Huessy pursued law studies at the universities of Zurich, Heidelberg, and Berlin.

[1] In 1926, Joseph Wittig, a reform-minded Roman Catholic priest, was excommunicated and thus lost his right to teach church history at the University of Breslau.

[1] In 1925, he and Hans Ehrenberg co-founded a journal, Die Kreatur (The Creature), which was edited by Wittig, Martin Buber, and Viktor von Weizsäcker, men of widely different perspectives, and which lasted until 1930.

According to his recent publishers, "Among the contributors [of Die Kreatur] were Nicholas Berdyaev, Lev Shestov, Franz Rosenzweig, Ernst Simon, Hugo Bergmann, Edgar Dacque, Hans Ehrenberg, Rudolf Ehrenberg, Marie Luise Enckendorff, Hermann Herrigel, Rudolf Hallo, Edith Klatt, Fritz Klatt, Ernst Michel, Wilhelm Michel, Werner Picht, Florens Christian Rang, Heinrich Sachs, and Margarette Susman.

"[3] In 1921, Rosenstock-Huessy published Angewandte Seelenkunde (Practical Knowledge of the Soul) [12] wherein he developed a new method for the social sciences based on language, the spoken word, and his "grammatical approach."

"[1] "While he was still teaching at Breslau, Rosenstock wrote and published the first of his major works: Die Europäischen Revolutionen: Volkscharaktere und Staatenbildung (The European Revolutions and the Character of Nations; 1931).

"[1] Rosenstock-Huessy encountered strong opposition at Harvard University to the presentation of his ideas in social history and other topics, all of which were based on his Christian faith.

Profound differences of opinion ensued and led, in 1935, to his accepting an appointment as professor of social philosophy at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

George Allen Morgan, a former Harvard student under Alfred North Whitehead and himself the author of the classic What Nietzsche Means, subsequently assisted Rosenstock-Huessy in the preparation of The Christian Future or the Modern Mind Outrun[17] in 1946.

[3] In 1940 he presented a request to US President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and was granted approval to organize a youth training program for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

"[3] The entrance of the United States into World War II in 1941 ended this and all other CCC programs because men were needed in the armed services and women became a greater part of the workforce.

[3] In Out of Revolution, Rosenstock-Huessy wrote:[17] The present time is bound (...) to attempt an organization of future society by which the dynamite of revolution may be manipulated as persistently and consciously as contractors use real dynamite in building tunnels or roads.During 1956 through 1958, Rosenstock-Huessy developed the principle of metanomics in his two-volume Soziologie (Sociology)—Volume I: On the Forces of Common Life (When Space Governs) [20] and Volume II: On the Forces of History (When the Times Are Obeyed).

[21] During 1963 through 1964, he further developed this principle in Volumes I & II of, Die Sprache des Menschengeschlechts: Eine Leibhaftige Grammatik in Vier Teilen[22][23] (The Speech of Mankind: A Personal Grammar in Four Parts).

[3] After World War II and continuing through his retirement from Dartmouth, Rosenstock-Huessy was a frequent guest professor at many universities in Germany and the United States.