German sociologist and economist∼Werner Sombart was a German economist and sociologist, the head of the "Youngest Historical School" and one of the leading Continental European social scientists during the first quarter of the 20th century. He was born in Ermsleben, Harz, as the son of a wealthy liberal politician, industrialist, and estate-owner, Anton Ludwig Sombart, and studied at the universities of Pisa, Berlin, and Rome, both law and economics. In 1888, he received his Ph.D. from Berlin under the direction of Gustav von Schmoller and Adolph Wagner, then the most eminent German economists. As an economist and especially social activist, Sombart was then seen as radically left-wing, and so only received — after some practical work as head lawyer of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce — a junior professorship at the out-of-the-way University of Breslau. Although faculties at such eminent universities as Heidelberg and Freiburg called him on chairs, the respective governments always vetoed this. Sombart, at that time, was an important Marxian, someone who used and interpreted Karl Marx — to the point that Friedrich Engels called him the only German professor who understood Das Kapital. Sombart was the first sociologist to devote a whole book to the concept of social movement in his 1896 published "Sozialismus und soziale Bewegung". In 1902, his magnum opus, "Der moderne Kapitalismus", appeared in six volumes. It is a systematic history of economics and economic development through the centuries and very much a work of the Historical School. In 1906, Sombart accepted a full professorship at the Berlin School of Commerce. In 1917, Sombart became professor at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, succeeding his mentor Adolph Wagner. He remained on the chair until 1931 but continued teaching until 1940.