<P> One of the founding fathers of the sociology of knowledge </P> <P> Karl Mannheim (March 27, 1893--January 9, 1947), or Károly Manheim in the original spelling, was a Hungarian - born sociologist, influential in the first half of the 20th century and one of the founding fathers of classical sociology as well as a founder of the sociology of knowledge . He is most known for his book Ideology and Utopia published in 1929 where he argues that ideologies are the true nature of any given society and in trying to achieve utopia, these ideologies affect theories of philosophy and even history . </P> <P> Mannheim was born in Budapest, to a Hungarian father who was a textile manufacturer and a German mother . He studied at the University of Budapest as well as in Berlin, Paris and Heidelberg . At the University of Budapest, he earned a doctorate in philosophy . In 1914 he attended lectures by Georg Simmel . During the brief period of the Hungarian Soviet, in 1919, he taught in a teacher training school thanks to the patronage of his friend and mentor György Lukács, whose political conversion to Communism he did not share . After the ouster of Bela Kun and the rise of Horthy as Regent of Hungary, Mannheim chose exile in Germany . In Germany Mannheim moved from Freiburg to Heidelberg, and in 1921 he married psychologist "Juliska" Károlyné Lang, better known as Julia Lang . </P> <P> After an unsuccessful attempt to gain a philosopher as sponsor in Heidelberg, he began work in 1924 under the German sociologist Alfred Weber, brother of the well - known sociologist Max Weber . In 1926 Mannheim had his habilitation accepted by the faculty of social sciences, thus satisfying the requirements to teach classes in sociology at Heidelberg . Mannheim was chosen over other competitors for the post, one of whom was Walter Benjamin . From 1929 - 1933 he served as a professor of sociology and political economy at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main . </P>

Who is known as the father of sociology of education