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German-American philosopher, professor of political theory and publicist. Among the most influential and important political thinkers of the 20th century. She wrote the controversial book Eichmann in Jerusalem: Report of the Banality of Evil (1963). With the Nazi rise to power, Arendt immigrated to France, was seized and held in a detention camp, managed to flee and arrived in New York. In 1951, she became an American citizen, after being denied citizenship in Germany. Her studies focused on totalitarian regimes and the status of refugees and foreigners; they present a humanist, anti-nationalistic approach. Her writings, such as The Origins of Totalitarianism and On Revolution, are pivotal for the fields of political philosophy, ethics, law and culture studies.
