Erwin Wickert

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Erwin Wickert
Erwin Wickert
6th German Ambassador to China
In office
1976–1980
Preceded byRolf Friedemann Pauls
Succeeded byPer Fischer
2nd German Ambassador to Romania
In office
1971–1976
Preceded byBernhard von Bülow
Personal details
Born(1915-01-07)7 January 1915
Bralitz, Brandenburg, German Empire
Died26 March 2008(2008-03-26) (aged 93)
Remagen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
NationalityGerman
Political partyNazi Party (1939–1945)
SpouseIngeborg Weides
RelationsUlrich Wickert (son)
Emily Wood (granddaughter)
EducationB.A., economics and political science (1936) – Dickinson College
Ph.D., philosophy (1939) – University of Heidelberg
Occupationdiplomat

Erwin Wickert (7 January 1915 – 26 March 2008) was a German diplomat who, during the 1970s, served as the ambassador to Romania and China.[1]

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Bralitz and raised in Wittenberg, Wickert applied to join the Sturmabteilung at the age of 18 before ultimately enrolling at the University of Berlin in 1934, where he studied philosophy. The following year, in 1935, he won a scholarship to Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and transferred there to complete his studies, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and political science in 1936.[2]

Wickert spent the year following graduation traveling the United States and Asia, before returning to Germany. During his travels, he worked odd jobs, including as a waiter in San Francisco and for a travel agency in New York City. In 1939 he completed a doctorate in philosophy at Heidelberg University.[3]

Career[edit]

Erwin Wickert (far left) in 1976

By September 1939, Wickert had joined the Nazi Party and was hired by the German foreign ministry. That year he was appointed "radio attaché" at the German consulate in Shanghai, where he was responsible for managing the German propaganda station XGRS. Towards the end of the war he was reassigned to Tokyo, Japan.[2][4]

From 1947 Wickert worked as a freelance writer in Heidelberg. Upon the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1955, Wickert resumed working for the foreign ministry, holding posts in Paris, London, and a domestic assignment in Bonn. From 1971 to 1976 he served as German ambassador to Romania and, from 1976 to 1980, as ambassador to the People's Republic of China.[2]

Wickert retired in 1980. Shortly after, he returned to Dickinson College for the first time since his graduation 44 years earlier and led a question-and-answer session at the college's Memorial Hall.[5]

During his life, Wickert wrote more than a dozen fiction and non-fiction books. In 1998 he edited the diaries of John Rabe.[6][5]

Personal life[edit]

In 1939 Wickert married Ingeborg Weides, with whom he had two sons and one daughter.[2] Wickert was the father of the German journalist Ulrich Wickert and grandfather of actress Emily Wood.[1][7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Diplomat und Autor Erwin Wickert gestorben Die Welt, 27 March 2008 (in German)
  2. ^ a b c d Childs, David (18 June 2008). "Erwin Wickert: Diplomat and writer". The Independent. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Ein undiplomatischer Diplomat und die Freiheitsliebe". Die Welt. 9 April 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  4. ^ Wasserstein, Bernard (1998). Secret War in Shanghai. Profile Books. pp. 132–135. ISBN 1861970919.
  5. ^ a b Parlett, Anna Lynn (28 February 1980). "Ambassador Returns to College for Visit". The Dickinsonian. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  6. ^ Wudun, Sheryl (13 December 1998). "The Good Nazi". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  7. ^ Emily Wood biography Archived 2012-08-27 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
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