Jan Philipp Reemtsma

Jan Philipp Fürchtegott Reemtsma (born 26 November 1952) is a German literary scholar, author, and patron who founded and was the long-term director of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research. Reemtsma lives and works mainly in Hamburg. Reemtsma was born in Bonn, West Germany. The son of cigarette manufacturer Philipp Fürchtegott Reemtsma and Gertrud Reemtsma (née Zülch), he studied German literature and philosophy at the University of Hamburg (PhD), where he has been active as a professor of German literature since 1996. Reemtsma sold his inherited majority stake in the Reemtsma group in 1980 to the Hamburg entrepreneurial family Herz (Tchibo). In 1996, Reemtsma was kidnapped.Musician and music producer Johann Scheerer is his son.