German philosopher Immanuel Kant has sparked an unexpected controversy in his Russian hometown over the prospect of naming the airport after him, with a top naval officer branding him a “traitor” and vandals throwing paint at his tomb. Until recently the philosopher was leading an online poll to choose a name for the city’s airport, currently called Khrabrovo after the nearby village. This sparked a furious row with one lawmaker branding Kant a “Russophobe”, despite an absence of historical evidence that the philosopher harbored strong feelings toward the Russian Empire. Kant, during that brief period of Russian rule, unsuccessfully sought a teaching post at the local university. He said he thinks the Kant controversy stems from a “dislike of everything German” harbored by some Russians: “Kant is a German, therefore he’s an enemy.”

Source: Egypt Independent December 05, 2018 09:45 UTC