Gerhard Fischer
Person
1921 –
Who is Gerhard Fischer?
Gerhard Fischer was a German diplomat, ambassador and humanitarian who received the 1997 Gandhi Peace Prize in recognition of his work for leprosy and polio-afflicted patients in India.
Born in Oslo, Fischer grew up in China and studied medicine at Beijing Medical University, where he gained experience as a volunteer with leprosy patients. When he was forced to abandon the course by the Japanese occupation, he travelled to Germany intending to study medicine there, but instead was obliged to fight in World War II, then was held as a POW in France. After the war, he obtained a law degree and entered the German diplomatic service.
While at the German consulate in Madras, he helped a German doctor to establish a leprosy treatment and rehabilitation centre at Chettipatty. He was also instrumental in setting up the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, which was founded with financial and technical support from the West German government. He later became ambassador to Malaysia, Ireland, Netherlands, and finally Switzerland.
He resigned from the diplomatic service in order to devote himself full-time to the support of leprosy and polio patients in India. Fischer regarded rehabilitation as the most important aspect of his work, and emphasised the need for attitudes to leprosy to change. His work was recognised by the Indian government with the award of the Gandhi Peace Prize. Fischer used the money from the prize to set up a foundation for his humanitarian work.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Sep 20, 1921
Oslo - Education
- Peking University Health Science Center
- Died
- Jun 9, 2024
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Gerhard Fischer." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/biography/gerhard-fischer/m/0j64tzj>.
Discuss this Gerhard Fischer biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In