The title of lawrence j friedmans book the lives of erich from loves prophet is apt erich fromm 1900 1980 lived a remarkably productive and resilient life he lived with the resilience and resourcefulness of odysseus through his widely read books he championed the love of life or biophilia so he was loves prophet. Erich fromm was born in frankfurt at the start of the twentieth century at the time frankfurt was the financial capital of germany situated on the main river near its juncture with the rhine it was one of europes major transportation and commercial centers and a historical magnet for jewish business and intellectual ventures. The title of lawrence j friedmans book the lives of erich from loves prophet is apt erich fromm 1900 1980 lived a remarkably productive and resilient life he lived with the resilience and resourcefulness of odysseus through his widely read books he championed the love of life or biophilia so he was loves prophet. Lawrence friedmans the lives of erich fromm loves prophet is a prodigious piece of scholarship friedman is a professor in harvards mind brain behavior initiative and has written texts on such psychological luminaries as erik erikson and karl menninger the title of the current work recognizes fromms multiple roles as psychoanalyst social philosopher political activist prolific and phenomenally successful writer and social prophet