Peter Coulmas
Peter Coulmas , born as Petros Koulmassis , (born August 29, 1914 in Dresden ; † January 9, 2003 in Cologne ) was a German author, publicist and journalist . Coulmas is the father of the Japanologist Florian Coulmas and the director Timon Koulmassis , who processed the life story of his father during the Second World War in Athens in a film documentary.
Life
Coulmas was born the son of a Greek cigarette manufacturer in Dresden and attended high school there. After graduating from high school, he studied sociology , philosophy and literature at the technical university in his hometown, later in Berlin , Geneva , Freiburg and Hamburg . From 1936 he worked as an assistant at the University of Athens . Because of his advocacy of democracy, he was arrested by Ioannis Metaxas ' authoritarian regime in 1936 , but was allowed to leave for Germany after a few months. In 1943 he completed his habilitation thesis " Future and Past in the Political Thought of German Romanticism ".
Professionally, Coulmas initially worked as a journalist for Greek and German newspapers and mainly wrote travel reports and reports. I.a. he reported as a correspondent from the Congo , in the Algerian war and during the Suez crisis . He was also the author of several non-fiction books and editor of foreign policy publications. In the mid-1960s he moved to WDR in Cologne, where he took on the role of senior foreign policy editor. He was significantly involved in setting up a special radio program for foreign guest workers , from which today's Funkhaus Europa emerged .
Coulmas lived in Cologne-Marienburg and was married to the Greek writer and diplomat Danae Coulmas . Together, the couple campaigned against the Greek military dictatorship and maintained contact with personalities such as Willy Brandt , Gustav Heinemann and Walter Scheel .
In 1979 Coulmas left WDR and worked as a freelance writer from then on. The focus of his academic work was on questions of world peace and cosmopolitanism . In 1990 he published the book Weltbürger - Geschichte einer Menschheitssehnsucht , which is considered to be his most important work. In addition, from 1997 until his death he was honorary president of the German section of the cosmopolitan world federation WFM .
Works (selection)
author
- Fichte's idea of the work. 1939.
- Between the Nile and the Tigris - the Middle East at the heart of the world. 1958.
- The curse of freedom - where is the colored world marching to? 1963.
- Radio without a future? - Return and change of a medium. 1973.
- Citizens of the world - history of a longing for humanity. 1990.
editor
- France interprets itself. 1961.
- England interprets itself. 1962.
- America reads itself. 1965.
literature
- Volker Klimpel: media man and global citizen. In: Dresdner Latest News . December 10, 2012.
- Westdeutscher Rundfunk press release on the death of Peter Coulmas on January 11, 2003.
Individual evidence
- ^ Letters from Athens , documentation broadcast in 3sat on July 23, 2018.
- ↑ Der Spiegel, issue 4/2003 online
- ↑ www.weltdemokratie.de - accessed on April 24, 2013.
Web links
- Literature by and about Peter Coulmas in the catalog of the German National Library
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Coulmas, Peter |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Koulmassis, Petros (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German book author, publicist and journalist |
DATE OF BIRTH | August 29, 1914 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Dresden |
DATE OF DEATH | January 9, 2003 |
Place of death | Cologne |