His father was a lawyer and member of a family of prosperous textile manufacturers. His mother's family placed a high value on education.
Educated mainly at the universities of Heidelberg and Berlin, Weber was trained in law, eventually writing his Habilitationsschrift on Roman law and agrarian history under August Meitzen, a prominent political economist of the time.
Max Weber is credited with numerous contributions to modern sociology and is considered one of the pillars of the discipline along with Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim.
Max Weber’s first significant The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, appeared shortly after his recovery from a long period of depression lasting from 1897 to 1904.
In 1919 he took permanent Chair in Munich. He lectured in overflowing lecture theatres on basic concepts in sociology, on economic history and on political science.
Max Weber: German sociologist
