Ezakiah Valentine

"Charles" Ezakiah Valentine was a German philosopher active in the early 20th century until his death in 1941. He is best known for his theory of International Rejectionism.

Born 1894 in Berlin, Valentine had a comfortable upbringing to a slightly well off family. In late 1916 he entered the army at the age of twenty two and served until the end of the war in Northern France (it is rumoured that on several occasions he attempted to flee the army and return to Germany but was prevented. The reliability of this claim, however, is unclear). On his return to Germany, Valentine began to see socialism as the best path for the country and joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). He, however, quit the party as it adopted a more Stalinist line as contrastingly he had begun to see a KPD/SPD union as the only way to prevent fascism. He then withdrew from politics. This, incidentally saved him from being arrested when Adolf Hitler gained power. In 1936, he published his only work "The Limitations of Progress" in which he argued that civilisation had got to point where any additional technological advancement would damage the entire world. In this work he also set down the theory of International Rejectionism. He was arrested by the Gestapo in May 1937 but released when a former army companion recognised him and took pity. In 1941, however, he was arrested and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where he died the same year at the age of forty seven.

The work of Ezakiah Valentine has been largely ignored post World War II possible because of the lack of additional work besides "The Limitations of Progress". International Rejectionism, however, is referred to by a number of different groups, although often under another name.

His Hebrew oriented middle name has often sparked debate as to whether or not he was Jewish. His surname is generally attributed to it possibly being the surname of a Latin American trader whom his mother met and fell in love with.

Ezakiah Valentine never married and had no children, however during the Weimar Germany period he is rumoured to have had a long term affair with travelling British socialite Jessica Felstead.