Arendt was born in Hanover, Germany and studied in Marburg with Martin Heidegger and in Heidelberg with Karl Jaspers. She emigrated from Germany in 1933, stayed in Paris until 1941, when she escaped to the United States. She worked for the Conference of Jewish Relations, was an editor at Schocken Books and taught at major US universities. Her reputation as an important political theorist was established with the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951, in which she demonstrated how anti-Semitism and Imperialism led to 20th century totalitarianism. In her works, some of which were provocative and controversial, she advocated political and social citizenship for all individuals. Her publications include, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), Rachel Varnhagen - the Life of a Jewess (1957), Between Past and Future (1961), Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963), On Revolution (1963) and Men in Dark Times ( 1969).
