Biographical/Historical Information
Samuel Maximilian (Max) Rieser was born in Krakow in 1893. He studied law in Vienna, but his studies were interrupted by the First World War, and he went to Switzerland, associating with pacifistic groups and writing for newspapers. After the war he returned to Vienna, completed his law studies, and obtained a position at the Phoenix Insurance Company. Besides his legal work, Rieser wrote literary supplements that appeared in Austrian and Swiss newspapers. After the bankruptcy of the Phoenix Concern in 1938, Rieser opened a private law practice; one of his clients was the childhood friend of Adolf Hitler, Reinhold Hanisch. Foreseeing the oncoming Anschluss, Rieser immigrated to the United States in early 1939. He earned his living through freelance journalism, writing under different pseudonyms for the New York Staatszeitung. After the war Rieser wrote for European newsletters. From 1946 to 1957 he was a translator for the immigrant service ‘Common Council for American Unity’. The money earned through journalism helped to finance Rieser's activities as a philosopher. Specializing in aesthetics, Rieser produced numerous essays, reviews and monographs appearing in American philosophical journals. He was very active in the philosophical world, attending numerous regional, national, and international philosophical congresses.
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Citation
Photographs of Max Rieser, Leo Baeck Institute, F 24461.