Siegfried Schaarschmidt

Siegfried Schaarschmidt
Personal details
Born21 August 1925
Limbach-Oberfrohna, Germany
DiedAugust 17, 1998(1998-08-17) (aged 72)
Germany
OccupationTranslator

Siegfried Schaarschmidt (21 August 1925 – 17 August 1998) was a German translator, poet, and essayist specializing in Japanese literature.

Biography

Schaarschmidt wrote numerous publications on Japanese literature and edited various anthologies. He met many of the writers whose works he translated into German in person and, through intensive conversations, learned a great deal about their views on literature, their way of thinking, and their worldview. He also wrote author portraits for radio programmes and other media. Until the German reunification, Schaarschmidt lived in West Germany.

On November 3, 1992, Schaarschmidt received the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class for his contributions to the Japanese-German cultural exchange. In 1993, Schaarschmidt and fellow Japanologist Jürgen Berndt were awarded the Noma Translation Prize (野間文芸翻訳賞, Noma bungei hon'yaku shō). Authors whose works Schaarschmidt translated into German include Abe Kōbō, Betsuyaku Minoru, Ihara Saikaku, Inoue Yasushi, Kawabata Yasunari, Kitagawa Fuyuhiko, Miyamoto Musashi, Mori Ōgai, Nakagami Kenji, Nishiwaki Junzaburō, Ōe Kenzaburō, Tanikawa Shuntarō, and Yasuoka Shōtarō. Schaarschmidt also translated Mishima Yukio's Sea of Fertility tetralogy.

References

  1. ↑ "Siegfried Schaarschmidt". Perlentaucher. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  2. ↑ "Catalogue of the German National Library - Siegfried Schaarschmidt". German National Library. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  3. ↑ 三島 Mishima, 由紀夫 Yukio (1987). Schnee im Frühling. Translated by Schaarschmidt, Siegfried. Germany: Goldmann. ISBN 978-3442088560.
  4. ↑ 三島 Mishima, 由紀夫 Yukio (1987). Unter dem Sturmgott. Translated by Schaarschmidt, Siegfried. Germany: Goldmann. ISBN 978-3442091454.
  5. ↑ 三島 Mishima, 由紀夫 Yukio (1987). Der Tempel der Morgendämmerung. Translated by Schaarschmidt, Siegfried. Germany: Goldmann. ISBN 978-3446146143.
  6. ↑ 三島 Mishima, 由紀夫 Yukio (1987). Die Todesmale des Engels. Translated by Schaarschmidt, Siegfried. Germany: Goldmann. ISBN 978-3442099405.