Werner Raith

Werner Raith (* 1940 in Regensburg ; † March 3, 2001 in Terracina ) was a German philosopher and educationalist as well as a writer, journalist and translator. He became known as one of the few German mafia experts.

Life

Werner Raith first studied mathematics and physics. He received his doctorate in philosophy from the humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola . Finally, he completed his habilitation in education. Raith taught at the universities of Munich and Palermo as well as at the Technical University in Darmstadt .

In addition to his teaching activities, he also founded two book publishers and wrote non-fiction, novels and books for young people. He was considered one of the few German experts on the European mafia. Raith lived in Terracina in central Italy, Lazio region , where she bred horses and ran a riding school with his wife. Since 1985 he has worked as the Italy correspondent for the daily newspaper and the Basler Zeitung . As his views and suggestions were increasingly no longer heard by the taz editorial team, after a decade and a half in 2000, he switched to the Berliner Tagesspiegel .

Raith also became known as a translator from Italian, especially for the Wagenbach Verlag in Berlin .

Raith died of heart failure. He left his wife Xenia and three daughters.

Fonts

• The power of the image. A humanistic problem with Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola. Dissertation. Fink, Munich 1967.
• Florence before the Renaissance. The way of a city from the Middle Ages. Habilitation thesis. TU Darmstadt 1976. Campus, Frankfurt am Main / New York 1979.
• The abandoned empire: about the Roman people leaving history. 2nd Edition. Wagenbach, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-8031-2092-6 .
• The Pope casts out devils. Italian reports. Förtner & Krömer, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-924366-05-5 .
• Write well. A guide. Campus, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-593-33951-X .
• Humanism and oppression. Polemic against the recurrence of danger. Extra book, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-88704-047-3 .
• Addio, bella Italia: change in the land of our dreams. Knesebeck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-926901-53-5 .

Books on the topics of Mafia / Corruption

• The honorable company. The path of the Italian mafia from “godfather” to industry. Wagenbach, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-8031-2111-6 .
• with Xenia Raith: Southern Italy, Sicily. Travels and encounters in the unknown Mezzogiorno. Förtner & Kroemer, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-924366-08-X .
• Mafia: Target Germany. From the decline of political culture to organized crime. Kösler, Cologne 1989.
• Victim on the sidelines. The violence of silence. Klein & Blechinger, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-927658-14-6 .
• with Xenia Raith: Travel to Italy. 2 volumes. Klein & Blechinger, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-927658-08-1 , ISBN 3-927658-09-X .
• The corruption shock. Democracy between dissolution and renewal: the example of Italy. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1994, ISBN 3-499-13517-5 .
• The new mafia cartel. How the Syndicates Conquer the East. Rowohlt TB-Verlag, Reinbek 1996, ISBN 978-3-499-19971-4 .
• The republic of the false saints or: how much corruption does democracy need? A polemic. Knesebeck, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-926901-89-6 .

Political books

• In a higher order. The calculated murder of Aldo Moro . Wagenbach, Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-8031-2111-6 .
• Ice Age in the Vatican. John Paul II and his critics. Knesebeck, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-926901-58-6 .
• Political murders. 17 cases of the 20th century. Knesebeck, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-89533-160-0 .
• Crash over Ustica . Elefanten Press, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-88520-913-6 .

Books for children and young readers

• Traitor child. Elefanten Press, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-88520-625-0 .
• Damn thief. Elefanten Press, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-88520-723-0 .
• Half of the moon. Elefanten Press, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-570-14600-6 .
• False prey. Bertelsmann Jugendbuch-Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-570-14622-7 .

literature

• Erhard Stölting : "Italy is backbreaking work". An obituary for the journalist Werner Raith. In: Zibaldone . Magazine for contemporary Italian culture. No. 32, August 2001, pp. 118-122.
• Werner Raith: The man who was always awake . In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 5, 2001.
• Otto Kallscheuer : Werner Raith . In: Die Zeit , No. 11/2001.

Web links

• Literature by and about Werner Raith in the catalog of the German National Library

Article by Raith

• Mafia as a lesson. (PDF; 113 kB) Treatment as an exotic foreign plant distracts from the problem of organized crime. Friedrich Ebert Foundation , 1994.
• 67 dead - because the pilot was supposed to die? In: Der Tagesspiegel , August 28, 2000, on the Ramstein disaster

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Werner Raith in Perlentaucher . Dream country for gangs . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1990 ( online ).
2. ^ Thomas Schmid : Farewell - Ciao, Werner . In: taz , March 5, 2001.
3. ↑ Review: Werner Raith. Crash over Ustica .
4. ↑ Discussion: A Father's Machinations . In: taz , March 21, 2002.