Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (Berlin, German Empire, July 15, 1892 – Portbou, Spain, September 26, 1940) was a German philosopher, literary critic, translator and essayist of Jewish origin. His thought gathers elements of German Idealism or Romanticism, historical materialism, and Jewish mysticism that enable him to make enduring and influential contributions to Western aesthetic theory and Marxism. His thought is associated with the Frankfurt School.