Manfred Osten (born 19 January 1938 in

Ludwigslust Ludwigslust () is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal re ...

) is a German poet, author, lawyer, former diplomat and cultural historian.

Biography

He was born in

in the region of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

, which became part of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He escaped to the

Federal Republic of 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 constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

in 1952. In 1969, he earned a doctorate upon the completion of a thesis concerning the concept of natural law in the early writings of

Schelling Schelling is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854), German philosopher * Caroline Schelling (1763–1809), German intellectual and wife of Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling * Felix E ...

. He then joined the diplomatic service of the Federal Republic of Germany. His career as a diplomat included postings in France, Cameroon, Chad, Australia, Japan, and Hungary. From 1995 to 2004 he was the Secretary-General of the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation () is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by t ...

. He is an honorary Doctor of the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

, the

University of Pécs The University of Pécs ( , PTE; ) is one of the largest higher education institutions in Hungary. The history of the university began in the Middle Ages, when in 1367, at the request of Louis I of Hungary, King Louis I the Great, Pope Urban V gr ...

, the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

, and the

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

. In 1993 he received the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

from the Japanese government. He is in addition a member of the

Academy of Sciences and Literature The Academy of Sciences and Literature () is a scientific academy in Mainz, Germany. It was established in 1949 on an initiative of Alfred Döblin. The academy's goal is to support science and literature, and in doing so to help preserve and pro ...

in Mainz. In 2008 he was admitted to the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

Publications

Monographs

* ''Gedenke zu leben! Wage es, glücklich zu sein!''- oder Goethe und das Glück, Wallstein-Verlag, Göttingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-8353-3024-5. * ''Gespräche über Gott, Geist und Geld'' – Peter Sloterdijk, Thomas Macho, Manfred Osten, Herder Verlag, Freiburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-451-06872-0. * ''Alles veloziferisch oder Goethes Entdeckung der Langsamkeit. Zur Modernität eines Klassikers im 21. Jahrhundert'', Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main/ Leipzig 2003, ISBN 3-458-17159-2. * mit Hans U. Brauner: ''Es gilt das gebrochene Wort – Das Ende der Glaubwürdigkeit.'' Allitera Verlag, München 2013, ISBN 978-3-86906-575-5. * ''Die Kunst, Fehler zu machen.'' (= Bibliothek der Lebenskunst). Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-518-41744-4. * ''Diese gewisse Leichtigkeit. Horst Janssen und der Mozart-Faktor.'' St. Gertrude-Verlag, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-935855-08-7. * ''Das geraubte Gedächtnis: digitale Systeme und die Zerstörung der Erinnerungskultur; eine kleine Geschichte des Vergessens.'' Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main/ Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-458-17231-9. * ''Homunculus, die beschleunigte Zeit und Max Beckmanns Illustrationen zur Modernität Goethes'' Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-515-08205-0. * als Hrsg.: ''Alexander von Humboldt: Über die Freiheit des Menschen auf der Suche nach Wahrheit.'' Insel-Suhrkamp-Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-458-34221-4. * ''Die Erotik des Pfirsichs: 12 Porträts japanischer Schriftsteller.'' (Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch 2015). Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-518-39015-5.

References

External links

* Personal homepage: https://manfredosten.de
Goethe and the Velociferic Tendencies of the Modern Age Part I

* German Wikipedia entry {{DEFAULTSORT:Osten, Manfred 1938 births Living people People from Ludwigslust German male poets Academic staff of Peking University Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun