Käthe Zhao

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Käthe Zhao (Chinese name: 赵 林克 悌 , Zhào Línkètì ; * September 1906 in Berlin as Käthe Starkloff-Linke; † April 26, 2005 in Beijing ) was a Chinese - German professor and translator who played an important role in German studies in China played.

biography

Käthe Zhao studied linguistics , history and philosophy in Berlin , Heidelberg and Göttingen . In the early 1930s she met David Daube in Berlin , who wanted to marry her. He later dedicated two articles to her: Ancient Hebrew Fables and Two Jewish Prayers. She married Zhao Xilin 赵锡霖 ("Wilhelm Zhao"), First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, and went to China. In 1935 she completed her studies with a doctorate. After Adolf Hitler came to power, she helped hide and take Jewish children abroad, for which she was arrested and imprisoned. With the help of friends, she survived and went to China with her husband and daughter in 1947.

From 1947 to 1954 she was first assistant professor at Beiyang University in Tianjin (天津 北洋 大学) and at Tsinghua University . In 1952, she was received by Zhou Enlai to represent the staff at Tsinghua University .

In 1954, Käthe Zhao became professor of German at the Institute for Western Languages ​​at Peking University (北京大学 西 语系). Her colleagues at Peking University included a. the Chinese German students Feng Zhi冯至, Yang Yezhi扬 业 治 and Tian Dewang田 德望 as well as the German Maria Tan谭 玛丽 and the Austrian Walther Zeißberger蔡 思克. One of her students is Ma Wentao 马文涛 , who is now Professor of German Studies at Peking University.

In the 1950s, Käthe Zhao took Chinese citizenship .

From 1967 she worked alongside her teaching at the Foreign Language Office of the People's Republic of China, primarily as a translator for the publishing house for foreign language literature and the Peking Rundschau . There was u. a. involved in the translation of Mao Zedong's Selected Military Writings (《毛泽东 军事 文选》) and in the publication of the China book series (《中国 基本 情况》). In 1987 she retired. In 1992 the State Council of the People's Republic of China awarded Käthe Zhao the national prize (国家 特殊 津贴).

In addition to her mother tongue, Käthe Zhao also spoke English, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Latin and Greek. She worked on numerous translations from Chinese and from English and published several German textbooks.

Käthe Zhao died in Beijing at the age of 99.

Works

  • Old Chinese fables. From the Chinese by Käthe Zhao and Senta Lewin. Reclam, Leipzig 1963; Röderberg, Frankfurt am Main 1972 (afterword by Eva Müller, numerous other editions).
  • Institute for the History of Natural Sciences [中国科学院 自然科学 史 研究所] (Ed.): Science and technology in ancient China. Translated from the Chinese by Käthe Zhao. Birkhäuser, Basel / Boston / Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-7643-1951-8 (in collaboration with Hsi-lin Zhao [Zhao Xilin]).
  • Xu Shumin (ed.), Käthe Zhao: China book series. / 《中国 基本 情况》. Volume 3: Politics. Foreign Language Literature Publishing House, Beijing 1986.
  • Käthe Zhao, Qiu Chongren 邱崇仁 (Ed.): Textbook for scientific-technical German. / 《科学 技术 德语 课本》. Shangwu yinshuguan 商务印书馆, Beijing 1965, ²1978.
  • Basic Chinese language course. / 《基础 汉语 课本》 (adaptation of the German edition by Käthe Zhao).
  • Marie-Luise Latsch: Peking Opera As a European Sees It. New World Press, Peking 1980 (from the English by Dora Bradenberger and Käthe Zhao).
  • Old Chinese proverb. / 《中国 古代 寓言》. Publishing house for foreign language literature, Beijing 2005 (from the Chinese by Käthe Zhao, illustrated by Feng Zikai 丰子恺).
  • Gan Bao 干 宝: The man who sold a ghost. / Sou shen ji《搜神记》. Translated from the Chinese by Käthe Zhao. Foreign Language Literature Publishing House, Beijing 1984.
  • Hu Djia: Beijing yesterday and today. Translated from the Chinese by Käthe Zhao. Foreign Language Literature Publishing House, Beijing 1957.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Calum Carmichael: Ideas and the Man. Remembering David stave. Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-465-03363-9 , p. 48f.
  2. ^ Uwe Richter: The Cultural Revolution at the University of Peking. Prehistory, process and coping. Institute for Asian Studies, Hamburg 1988.
  3. ^ Josef Goldberger: A life for literature. Professor Ma Wentao, one of the most important mediators for German-language literature in the PRC. In: DAAD China Info. June 2009, pp. 18-19.
personal data
SURNAME Zhao, Kathe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zhao Lin, Keti
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Chinese German studies specialist and translator
DATE OF BIRTH September 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 2005
Place of death Beijing