Author(s): Meinhof U

Philosophy, Politics & Current Affairs

No other figure embodies revolutionary politics, radical chic and the promises and failures of the New Left quite like Ulrike Meinhof (1934-76). In the 1960s, she was known in Europe as a journalist and public intellectual, leading an exciting life in Hamburg's high society with her publisher husband and twin daughters. 10 years later, Meinhof gave up her bourgeois existence to form, with Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin, the Red Army Faction (RAF). Also called the Baader-Meinhof Gang, the group was notorious for its politically motivated acts of violence.