German journalist and scientific historian (born 1974)
Julia Voss (born 1974) is a German journalist and scientific historian. She is a writer and art critic who works at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.[1]
From 2001 to 2004, Voss pursued her art history dissertation, One long Argument. Die Darwinismus-Debatte im Bild as part of a research project at the Max Planck Institute. She examined the role of images in the development of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. She received her doctorate at Humboldt University at the end of 2005 and was presented the Max Planck Society's Otto Hahn Award for her dissertation. Her dissertation was published in 2007.[1] In 2008, she wrote an article about Michael Ende's children's novel, Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer, in which she examined Ende's motives for writing the book. Written in 1960, Ende's novel is a classic in Germany and has been translated into 33 languages.[2] In her article, called "Jim Button saves the theory of evolution" ("Jim Knopf rettet die Evolutionstheorie"), Voss presented evidence that Ende wanted to write a contrast to Nazi racial ideology and their misuse of Darwin's theory of evolution.[3] Ende, who had grown up in Nazi Germany, used numerous Nazi symbols and references in his book, reversing their discriminatory aspect and turning them into anti-racist and multi-cultural images.[4] Voss' article also identified Jemmy Button as the basis for Ende's lead character, Jim Knopf, translated in English as Jim Button.[3][4]