Magnus Schwantje | |
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| Born | Magnus Ernst Schwantje (1877-06-03)3 June 1877 |
| Died | 11 September 1959(1959-09-11) (aged 82) |
| Occupation(s) | Author, activist |
Magnus Ernst Schwantje (3 June 1877 – 11 September 1959) was a German author and activist. He was a campaigner forpacifism,animal rights andvegetarianism, founding the Bund für radikale Ethik ("Alliance for Radical Ethics") and co-founding the Bund der Kriegsdienstgegner ("Alliance of Enemies of Military Service").[1]
Magnus Ernst Schwantje[2] was born on 3 June 1877, inOldenburg,German Empire, the youngest of four siblings.[3] His parents managed a small textile business, but economic hardships forced him to leave secondary school at the age of 14 and pursue an apprenticeship in bookselling. Raised in a Protestant-Baptist family, Schwantje grew up with strong religious influences. However, he later rejected religious faith and considered metaphysical and theological questions to be beyond human understanding. His ethical framework was built on rational thought rather than religious doctrine.[3]
Schwantje's compassion for animals developed early in life, particularly due to the widespread cruelty toward animals in the 19th century, when legal protections were minimal. He famously recalled being moved by an article onvivisection in his youth, which led him to vow to campaign against such practices as an adult.[3]
Schwantje initially hoped that his apprenticeship in bookselling would eventually equip him with the skills necessary to pursue a career as a writer. To expand his knowledge, he taught himself English, French, and Latin. In 1898, at the age of 21, he earned the "intermediate school leaving certificate" through an external university.[3]
After completing his training, Schwantje moved toMunich (1895–1897), where he was introduced to the popularTheosophy movement. However, he soon grew disillusioned with it and distanced himself from its teachings. At the age of 19, he published his first book,Das edle Waidwerk und der Lustmord ("The Noble Hunt and the Lust Murder"; 1897), at his own expense. In this work, Schwantje meticulously argued against hunting by exposing the underlying psychological motive for it: the desire to kill, which he suggested is often unconscious. He coined the provocative term "lustmord" ("lust murder") to describe this hidden drive.[3]
In 1898 he temporarily was a pupil of the painterKarl Wilhelm Diefenbach, who was a pioneer of thenaturist movement and thepeace movement. Therefore, he lived with the painter in his countrycommune called Himmelhof inOber Sankt Veit nearVienna. At the beginning of the 20th century he worked for the Berliner Tierschutzverein (a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals inBerlin) and gathered experience, which was of great use for his later activities as speaker and author.
In 1907 he established his ownanimal rights organisation called Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Tierschutzes und verwandter Bestrebungen ("Society for the Promotion of Animal protection and Similar efforts"), which in 1919 was renamed Bund für radikale Ethik and persisted until 1933. Among the several hundred members were the politician and peace advocateLudwig Quidde, his wifeMargarethe Quidde andHans Paasche.
BeforeWorld War I Schwantje already published a journal advocating the peace movement calledEthische Rundschau ("Ethical Review"). Furthermore, he was co-founder of the Bund der Kriegsdienstgegner ("Alliance of Enemies of Military Service") and wrote articles for the pacifistic journalsDie Friedens-Warte ("The Peace-Lookout") andFriedensfront ("Peace-Front").
After the advent ofNazi Germany Schwantje'sBund für radikale Ethik was prohibited and he had to endure house searches in March 1933. Later that year in September he was arrested and interrogated in theColumbia concentration camp, a notorious prison of theGestapo. His name was later withdrawn from the list of people, who were to be transported to the concentration camp inDachau. In 1934 he emigrated toSwitzerland and there supported theZurich-based dentist Ludwig Fliegel in the work on his book against vivisection entitled1000 Ärzte gegen die Vivisektion ("1000 doctors against vivisection"). Schwantje also wrote the preface for Fliegel's book, the distribution of which was subdued by theNazis in Germany, but which was published in Switzerland in 1935.
After returning to Germany in 1949 he resumed his work as an activist for animal rights, vegetarianism and the peace movement. Until 1956 he lived with his sister Alwine Schütte in Stade, a city inLower Saxony, and after her death moved to theRuhr region.
Schwantje died on 11 September 1959 inOberhausen.[4]
During World War I Schwantje developed a concept of radical ethics, which aims to address the root (therefore "radical") of all ills ofsocieties. First and foremost this concept included as its most important component the protection of animal rights. In Schwantje's view, every being that is able to suffer is a legal entity, no matter whatspecies it belongs to.[5] Avegetarian diet, the abolition ofvivisection andhunting were central claims of his idea of animal rights.
Schwantje himself practiced a strict vegetarian diet in a very devoted way, which today would be calledveganism.[6] The reasons Schwantje gave for his vegan lifestyle were primarily ofethical nature, whereas he rejectednaturalistic arguments. He also repeatedly argued against prejudicating entire nations or other groups as for example tormentors of animals, as in the case of Spain (see for examplebullfighting). He also vehemently rejectedantisemitism,racism andracial hygiene, which was popular during his time.[7]
Modern advocates ofantispeciecism regard Schwantje as a predecessor. Author Matthias Rude writes in his book on the topic: "Schwantje entirely saw through the function of speciesistic ideology." In 1927 Schwantje spoke at theVII. Internationaler Demokratischer Friedens-Kongress ("7th international democratic peace-congress") in the bavarian cityWürzburg and said: "For most people however, especially for meat-eaters, it's hard to judge animals in an unbiased manner, because they realize, that they must not exploit them as they do today, if they must acknowledge their higher mental qualities, especially an acute ability to suffer. Precisely because humans gain big profit through exploiting animals, they despise them. Today's contempt of animals has the same cause as the undervaluation of workers, of women, of Negroes and other oppressed and exploited human beings. Every time humans want to exploit other humans, they tend to suggest views about these humans, that facilitate the exploitation for them."[8] (Translated from German, see the German article onMagnus Schwantje to read the original citation)
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