Michael Naumann

Michael Naumann (born 8 December 1941, in Köthen, Anhalt) is a German politician, publisher and journalist. He was the German secretary of culture from 1998 until 2001. He is married to Marie Warburg, granddaughter of Eric Warburg and great-granddaughter of Max Warburg.

Life

Naumann was born as the son of a lawyer in Köthen. His father was killed in 1942 in the Battle of Stalingrad. 1953 Naumann had to flee with his mother to Hamburg.

Education

Naumann graduated with a Ph.D. (Dr.) in political science from Munich University in 1969 and continued his studies as a Florey scholar at Queen's College, Oxford. Naumann wrote his dissertation on Karl Kraus's Der Abbau der verkehrten Welt ("On overcoming a wrong world"), his habilitation on Structural Change of Heroism, from Sacred to Profane in 1978; he has also written a number of academic essays on theories of revolution.

In publishing and the media

Naumann worked for Der Spiegel and for Die Zeit, for the latter as a chief-editor and later as a publisher. In 1985 Naumann became Publisher of the publishing house Rowohlt Verlag. In 1995 he went to New York, first leading Metropolitan Books, then Henry Holt. He hosted a highbrow political talk show in German television, Talk im Palais from 2004 until becoming SPD candidate for mayor of Hamburg in 2007. From 2010 to 2012 he was chief-editor of Cicero.