Richard von Schirach (11 February 1942 – 11 July 2023) was a German

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

and author.

Biography

Richard von Schirach was born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

on 11 February 1942. He studied at LMU, where he earned a doctorate in Chinese literature in 1974. In 1973 he published a German version of the autobiography of Chinese Emperor

Puyi Puyi (7 February 190617 October 1967) was the final emperor of China, reigning as the eleventh monarch of the Qing dynasty from 1908 to 1912. When the Guangxu Emperor died without an heir, Empress Dowager Cixi picked his nephew Puyi, aged tw ...

. Richard von Schirach was a member of the

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

Sorbian Schirach family. He was a son of the Nazi war criminal

Baldur von Schirach Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (; 9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a German politician who was the leader of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. From 1940 to 1945, he was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) and '' Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich gov ...

, and a grandson of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's official photographer Heinrich Hoffmann. He published a book about his father. He was the father of philosopher Ariadne von Schirach and author Benedict Wells. After returning to Germany after living and working for many years on

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, von Schirach settled in Kochel am See. He died in a hospital in nearby

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

on 11 July 2023, at the age of 81.

Books

* Pu Yi: ''Ich war Kaiser von China: Vom Himmelssohn zum neuen Menschen''. Hanser, Munich 1973. * ''Hsü Chih-mo und die Hsin-yüeh-Gesellschaft: Ein Beitrag zur Neuen Literatur Chinas''. Dissertation, LMU, 1974. * ''Der Schatten meines Vaters'' ("My Father's Shadow"). Hanser, Munich, Vienna 2005, * ''Die Nacht der Physiker: Heisenberg, Hahn, Weizsäcker und die deutsche Bombe''.Wie es fast zur Atombombe kam
Deutschlandradio Kultur, 29 November 2012

References

Literature

* Norbert Lebert, Stephan Lebert: ''Denn Du trägst meinen Namen. Das schwere Erbe der prominenten Nazi-Kinder.'' Blessing, München 2000, .

External links

*
Börsenblatt.net: Richard von Schirach ist tot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schirach, Richard Von 1942 births 2023 deaths German sinologists

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

Writers from Munich