Born in 1855 in the Northern German region of Eiderstedt (then under Danish rule) to a farmer's family, Ferdinand Tönnies went on to become one of the pioneers of modern sociology. After the completion of his Abitur in Husum in 1871 Tönnies studied classics, philosophy, theology, ecclesiastical history, archeology, and history of arts at the universities of Strasbourg, Jena, Leipzig, Bonn, Kiel, and Tübingen receiving a Ph.D. in classics from the University of Tübingen in 1877. After years of private studies in Germany and England and a temporary membership at the Königliche Preussische Statistische Büro, the royal statistical office in Berlin, Tönnies received his post-doc-habilitation from the University of Kiel in 1881. From 1881 to 1916, Tönnies worked at the University of Kiel where he first taught as a private lecturer before being awarded a chair in political economy in 1913. In 1909 Tönnies cofounded the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie (the German Society for Sociology) serving as the Society's president from 1922 to 1933. In 1921, Tönnies returned to the University of Kiel as a lecturer. Because of his decisive critique against the National Socialistic movement as well as his membership at the German Social Democratic Party and the German League for Human Rights, Tönnies was forced to leave office after Hitler's rise to power in 1933. Tönnies spent his last years withdrawn from society in Kiel where he died in 1936.