Gustav Heckmann

Gustav Heckmann (22 April 1898 – 8 June 1996) was a German philosopher and teacher. He is particularly associated with philosophical extrapolations from the Socratic Dialogue format, pioneered by his mentor and friend Leonard Nelson, with which Heckmann continued to work after Nelson died.

In 1932 he was an instigator of the so-called Urgent Call for Unity ("Dringender Appell für die Einheit"), a public appeal, signed by 32 high-profile intellectuals, urging the principal left wing parties to unite ahead of the first 1932 General election in order to block Nazi success. The Appeal failed in its objective, but it marked out its instigators as prominent opponents of the Nazi party: Heckmann went into exile in 1933. Twelve years later, on returning to Germany, in 1945 he became, for a few years, an influential member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).