Wolf Lepenies (born 11 January 1941) is a German sociologist, political scientist, and author.
Lepenies was born near Allenstein, East Prussia (now Olsztyn, Poland), in 1945 his family fled[1] from the Soviet Army's assault on East Prussia to Schleswig-Holstein and from there to North Rhine-Westfalia.
He studied sociology and philosophy at the University of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia and graduated with a promotion in 1967.
He traveled abroad, first to the Maison des sciences de l’homme in Paris, then to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
[2] Since 2004 he has been a member of the supervisory board of Axel Springer AG.