Bernard Krisher (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Bernhard Krischer; August 9, 1931 – March 5, 2019) was an American journalist and philanthropist, born in Germany to Polish-Jewish parents.

Early life

Krisher was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and lived in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

until the age of six. His father Josef Krischer was a furrier in Leipzig and his mother Feige (Fella) Solnitza was a housewife. He and his parents left

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1937 to escape the Nazi Holocaust. They travelled via Paris and Lisbon, eventually settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in January 1941. At age 12, Krisher published his own magazine and edited his high school and

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

newspapers. Later he worked for the

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

and the

New York World-Telegram & Sun The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

. After graduating from college, Krisher was drafted into the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

but due to his German language skills was stationed in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

at the US Army's press and information division. In 1958 he visited

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

for the first time. From 1959 to 1960 Krisher spent a year doing Japanese area and language studies at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

as a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

Advanced International Reporting Fellow.

Career

Krisher joined ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' 's

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

bureau first as a stringer and eventually became bureau chief until 1980. In 1975 he was the first and only journalist ever do a to a one-on-one interview for publication with the Japanese Emperor

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

(Tenno Showa). He was a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

. After retiring from

, Krisher joined

Fortune Magazine ''Fortune'' (stylized in all caps) is an American global business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, a global business media company. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. T ...

as its Tokyo correspondent and at the same time joined

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in , Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: '' Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), '' Ute ...

, a large Japanese publishing company, as its chief editorial advisor. There he worked on the weekly ''FOCUS'' magazine in 1981. ''Focus'' magazine reached peak editions of up to 2 million per week in its heyday. Krisher was the Far East representative of the

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Media Lab. As such, he collaborated with

Nicholas Negroponte Nicholas Negroponte (born December 1, 1943) is a Greek American architect. He is the founder and chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also founded the One Laptop per Child Association (OLPC). Negroponte ...

, who was also one of the first to sponsor a school in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

in Krisher's signature school building project. On 5 March 2019, Krisher died at a hospital in

at the age of 87.

Philanthropy

In 1993, Krisher founded and became chairman of American Assistance for Cambodia, a non-profit organization aimed at giving hope to the

Cambodian people Demographic features of the population of Cambodia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Population size and structure Bet ...

following the extermination of 2 million Cambodians during the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

regime. Krisher launched the charity Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE which treated the poor for free. By 2013 he'd built over 550 schools, many of them with matching funds from the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

. He also founded and published ''The

Cambodia Daily ''The Cambodia Daily'' is a US-based English and Khmer language news site that evolved from a newspaper of the same name that stopped publishing in Cambodia in 2017 due to a tax dispute with the government then led by Hun Sen. ''The Cambodia Dail ...

'', a newspaper dedicated to setting up a sound foundation for a free press and training journalists. ''The Cambodia Daily's'' print publication based out of Phnom Penh was shut down by the Cambodian government in September 2017, but relaunched its operations offshore as an online-only news service in the following month.

Publications

* with

Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a member of the House of Norodom, Cambodian royal house who led the country as Monarchy of Cambodia, King, List of heads of state of Cambodia, Chief of State and Prime Minister of Cambodi ...

: "Sihanouk Reminisces: World Leaders I Have Known", Editions Duang Kamol; Bangkok, 1990 * ''Japan as we lived it: can East and West ever meet?'' Tokyo, Japan : Yohan Publications, 1989 * with Osamu Senna: Intabyū : Tennō kara Fuwa Tetsuzō made (インタビュ一 : 天皇から不破哲三まで /) Tokio, Saimaru Shuppankai (サイマル出版会,) 1976 * with Eiichi Aoki ''Harvard Conversation - Hābādo no mita Nippon : Nihon wa nyūrīdā ni nareru ka?'' (ハーバードのみたニッポン : 日本はニューリーダーになれるか?) Tokio, Gurobyūsha (グロビュー社,) 1979

Honors

* Recipient of the Second Iue Asia Pacific Culture Prize 2003 * Healing Cambodia Award, 2011 * Medal of Grand Officier de l'Ordre royal du Cambodge, 2008

Early life

Career

Philanthropy

Publications

Honors

References

External links