Arthur Pfungst

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Traits

German manufacturer, publisher, poet, translator, Buddhist and freethinker, who used the pseudonym Arthur Cornelius. Arthur Pfungst earned his PhD in chemistry and mathematics in 1886 and led the company Naxos Union after the death of his father. In addition, Pfungst studied ancient Indian literature and philosophy and worked as a translator or publisher of many fundamental works of Buddhist culture. Under the pseudonym Arthur Cornelius he published poems that were translated in 1900 into Italian, later into English. Pfungst's main concern, however, was the promotion of the anti-confessional and free-thinking movement, for which he created a platform by publishing "The Free Word" from 1901. His essay "The Unification of the Free Spirits" published there contributed significantly to the merger of the German Monist League, the Freethinkers Association, the Federation of secular school and teaching, the German Society for Ethics and Culture and some other organizations. Pfungst was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society, an honorary member of the Mahdbodhi Society in Calcutta and the International Buddhist Society in Rangoon. After Arthur Pfungst's death on 3 October 1912, his sister, the women's rights activist Marie Eleonore Pfungst, took over the family business. Link to Wikipedia biography (German)