Calwer, Richard°

views updated

CALWER, RICHARD°

CALWER, RICHARD ° (1868–1927), German socialist, economist, and politician. He belonged to the reformist wing inspired by Ferdinand *Lassalle within the German Social Democratic Party (spd). Calwer harbored a strong anti-Jewish bias. In a brochure published in 1894, he attacked the spd's radical wing as having been "incited by a few Jews who make slander their business," and deplored that such "specific" Jewish characteristics as "zealousness, contentiousness, and commercial craftiness" had found their way into the party press and literature. He also criticized the spd for combating antisemitism to the extent of creating the impression that Social Democracy had been "Judaized" (verjudet). Calwer left the spd in 1909. He was a pioneer in Western socialist non-Marxian economics, which he taught until his suicide in Berlin.

bibliography:

E. Silberner, Sozialisten zur Judenfrage… (1962), 201. add. bibliography: K.-D. Mrossko, Richard CalwerWirtschaftspolitiker und Schriftsteller (1868–1927) (1972).