BRENTANO, LUJO

born Dec. 18, 1844, Aschaffenburg, Bavaria died Sept. 9, 1931, Munich byname of Ludwig Josef Brentano German economist whose research linked modern trade unionism to the medieval guild system. He received his Ph.D. in economics in 1867 from the University of Gttingen, and he was professor of political theory from 1871 to 1931, successively, at the universities of Berlin, Breslau, Strassburg, Vienna, Leipzig, and Munich. In 1868 Brentano made a thorough study of trade unionism in England which resulted in his Die Arbeitergilden der Gegenwart (187172; Workers' Guilds of the Present). In it he argued that modern trade unions were the successors of the medieval guilds; it soon became an authoritative source on modern associations of workmen. His other works, which are of a more theoretical nature, relate chiefly to political economy. Brentano ardently opposed the rise of German militarism and was for many years an outspoken pacifist in Germany.