René Gardi

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

René Gardi (born March 1, 1909 in Bern ; † March 8, 2000 there ) was a Swiss travel writer , photographer and filmmaker.

Life

After studying mathematics , physics and zoology at the University of Bern , he was a secondary teacher in Brügg near Biel from 1932 to 1945 and then worked as a freelance writer and lecturer.

He first made a name for himself as a writer, especially with his boy scout books and novels for boys. After 1945 he turned more and more to travel and travel writing. Preferred travel destinations were first Scandinavia , then from 1948 Africa and New Guinea , in particular the southern Sahara and the north of Cameroon , in other words the "African hinterland", whose simplicity and originality fascinated him for life. He documented his travels in various books and in the two films Mandara (1959) and The Last Caravans (1967).

Gardi received several literary prizes and in 1967 he was awarded the title of Dr. H. c. of Ethnology awarded. However, his work was criticized early on; For example, the German test center for the film Mandara - Magic of the Black Wilderness refused him a rating and thus tax exemption, because Gardi's commentary, which he read to his pictures in the film, was inadequate and "not only rewritten, but redesigned from scratch" must.

In 2019 Gardi's life and work was the subject of the documentary African Mirror by Mischa Hedinger. This revealed, among other things, that Gardi was convicted of sexual assault on children in 1945 after a voluntary complaint and then committed a suicide attempt. After that, the city of Bern examined the renaming of a new street named after him and the University of Bern the withdrawal of the honorary doctorate, which the latter waived because this was not possible for the deceased.

Awards (selection)

Works

Youth books

  • Black water . A boy scout story, Sauerländer, Aarau 1943
  • Court in the camp . A boy’s story, Sauerlander, Aarau 1944
  • Hans, the young boatman on the Rhine . A story of life on the river, Sauerländer, Aarau 1950
  • With the compass rose in the buttonhole . With commercial pilots all over the world, Sauerlander, Aarau 1951
  • Mountain people of the desert , SJW, Zurich 1951
  • Propeller above the clouds , SJW, Zurich 1953
  • Fish that drown , SJW, Zurich 1954
  • Von Lappen und Reindeer , SJW, Zurich 1955
  • The missing stone ax . A boy story, Sauerlander, Aarau 1958
  • Today's pile dwellers, SJW, Zurich 1958
  • Among black fishermen , SJW, Zurich 1961
  • Crocodile hunt in the lagoons , SJW, Zurich 1968

Travel books

  • With backpack, tent and saucepan. A small hiking book , Sauerlander, Aarau 1936
  • Puoris päivä! In a river boat and on foot through Finnish Lapland , Haupt, Bern 1939
  • Finland. All sorts of things about country and people , Sauerlander, Aarau 1940
  • The stranger on the Tana. A story from Lapland , Sauerlander, Aarau 1945
  • North country. Among fishermen on Norway's coasts , Orell Füssli, Zurich 1946
  • Whale hunting. Experiences with whalers on the Norwegian coast , Sauerlander, Aarau 1947
  • Blue veils, red tents. A journey to the wonderland of the southern Sahara , Orell Füssli, Zurich 1950
  • Chad. Experiences in the pristine wilderness around Lake Chad , Orell Füssli, Zurich 1952
  • Spitsbergen. Land of the cool coast , Haupt, Bern 1952
  • From happy hiking. A breviary for travel enthusiasts , Kümmerly & Frey, Bern 1952
  • Mandara. Unknown mountains in Cameroon , Orell Füssli, Zurich 1953
  • The black Hephaestus . A picture book about the Matakam blacksmiths in the Mandara Mountains of North Cameroon and their traditional art of mining iron, self-published, Bern 1954
  • From happy holidays , Kümmerly & Frey, Bern 1955
  • Kirdi. Among the pagan tribes in the mountains and swamps of North Cameroon , Scherz, Bern 1955
  • Tambaran. Encounter with declining cultures in New Guinea , Orell Füssli, Zurich 1956
  • Sepik - land of dying spirits. Photo documents from New Guinea , Scherz, Bern 1958
  • From the Mediterranean to Chad (collective picture album), Tobler, Bern 1959
  • Reunion with Lapland (collector's picture album), Tobler, Bern 1961
  • If you go to Syria ... (together with Klaus Schädelin ), Scherz, Bern 1958
  • Black Arcadia , Orell Füssli, Zurich 1962
  • Sardinia (collector's picture album), Tobler, Bern 1963
  • Provence (collector's picture album), Tobler, Bern 1963
  • Kiligei. Cheerful and serious experiences in Africa , Sauerlander, Aarau 1964
  • From guys and owls. Encounters on the move , Gute Schriften, Bern 1967
  • Sahara. Monograph of a great desert , Kümmerly & Frey, Bern 1967
  • Among African artisans. Encounters and experiences in West Africa , self-published, Bern 1969
  • Cheerful from Africa. Little stories from my diaries , Benteli, Bern 1969
  • Rock paintings of the Sahara in Tassili n'Ajjer , Hallwag (Orbis Pictus 52), Bern 1969
  • Cram cram. Experiences around the Air Mountains in the southern Sahara , Benteli, Bern 1971
  • You can also live in a mud house. About traditional building and living in West Africa , self-published, Bern 1973
  • Dear Sir or Madam , Benteli, Bern 1974
  • Wisdoms and follies , Benteli, Bern 1975
  • Tenere. The desert where fish were caught. Between the Sahara and the Sahel. Report on three trips to the east of the Republic of Niger , Benteli, Bern 1978
  • Alantika. Forgotten mountains in North Cameroon. Report on two trips twenty-five years apart , self-published, Bern 1981

Movies

  • Mandara. Magic of the Black Wilderness (with Charles Zbinden), 1959
  • Dahomey (with Armin Schlosser), 1961
  • The glassmakers from Bida (with Ulrich Schweizer), 1963
  • Nous, les autres (with Ulrich Schweizer), 1964
  • The last caravans (with Ulrich Schweizer), 1967

documentary

  • African Mirror. Documentary about René Gardi by Mischa Hedinger, Switzerland 2019, 84 minutes. World premiere in the Forum of the Berlinale 2019, cinema release in Switzerland in November 2019.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Lory Roebuck: René Gardis Africa longing: "Sometimes I wish we Swiss also had a colony". Neue Zürcher Zeitung , November 13, 2019 (accessed November 18, 2019).
  2. ^ A b Tobias Marti: René Gardi was a convicted sex offender. In: look. February 9, 2020, accessed May 27, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Marius Aschwanden: René Gardi's honorary doctorate is not withdrawn. In: Berner Zeitung. Retrieved May 27, 2020 .
  4. ^ Forum: African Mirror. Berlin International Film Festival 2019 .
  5. ↑ Kaspar Surber: When assembly becomes disassembly. WOZ , November 14, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Gardi, René
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss youth and travel writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 2000
Place of death Bern