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Rescued 6 archive links; reformat 6 links. Wayback Medic 2.5

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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Gerhard Fischer
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Gerhard Fischer, diplomat, backlit by sunlight.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| order =
| ambassador_from = West Germany
| country = Malaysia
| term_start = 1970
| term_end = March 1974
| predecessor =
| successor =
| president = [[Gustav Heinemann]]
| ambassador_from2 = West Germany
| country2 = Ireland
| term_start2 = July 1977
| term_end2 = 1980
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| president2 = {{Plainlist|
* [[Walter Scheel]]
* [[Karl Carstens]]
}}
| ambassador_from3 = West Germany
| country3 = Netherlands
| term_start3 = 1980
| term_end3 = mid-1983
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| president3 = [[Karl Carstens]]
| ambassador_from4 = West Germany
| country4 = Switzerland
| term_start4 = mid-1983
| term_end4 = December 1985
| predecessor4 =
| successor4 =
| president4 = {{Plainlist|
* [[Karl Carstens]]
* [[Richard von Weizsäcker]]
}}
| birth_date = 20 September 1921
| birth_place = [[Oslo]], Norway
| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|7|3|1921|9|20|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Copenhagen]], Denmark<ref name="Munzinger" />
| spouse = Ann Lohmann Fischer<ref name="Muthiah 2006-10-16" />
| children = {{Plainlist|
* Karen Fischer Koch<ref name="Muthiah 2006-10-16" />
* Martin John Fischer{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
}}
| relations = [[Per Fischer]] (brother){{#tag:ref|Fischer's brother, Per, was also an ambassador, and became German Ambassador to China<ref name="Munzinger" /> |group=lower-alpha}}
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
* [[Beijing Medical University]]<ref name="rediff - part 1" />
* [[University of Munich]]<ref name="Munzinger" /><ref name="Jenner 2005-08-01" />
}}
| footnotes = {{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
}}

'''Gerhard Fischer''' (20 September 1921 – 3 July 2006) was a German diplomat, ambassador and humanitarian who received the 1997 [[Gandhi Peace Prize]] in recognition of his work for [[leprosy]] and [[Poliomyelitis|polio]]-afflicted patients in India.<ref name="Rotarian 1999-02" />

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 [[Prisoner of war|POW]] in France.<ref name="Chennai Online" /> 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 Madras|Indian Institute of Technology]] in Madras,<ref name="Chennai Online" /> which was founded with financial and technical support from the [[West Germany|West German]] government.<ref name="IITM History" /> 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.

== Early life and education ==
Fischer was born in [[Oslo]], [[Norway]], the elder son of a Norwegian mother and a German father, [[Martin Fischer (sinologist)|Martin Fischer]].<ref name="Muthiah 2006-10-16" /> When he was about 3 years old, his family moved to China, where his father was a [[sinologist]]. As a boy, Fischer had always wanted to be a doctor. He started to study medicine at [[Beijing Medical University]], but was forced to abandon the course when the University was closed by the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japanese occupation]]. So he decided to travel—via [[Siberia]]—to Germany, intending to study medicine there, but was instead compelled to fight in [[World War II|"another huge war"]], a situation he regarded as a "trap".<ref name="rediff - part 1" /> He spent five years fighting in the war, mainly on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], followed by two years nine months as a prisoner of war. Destitute after the war, studying medicine was out of the question. He worked as a truck driver and various other jobs, and after three years had saved enough money to study again.<ref name="rediff - part 2" /> He entered a legal [[crammer]], and in one year obtained a law degree, a course that normally requires four years' study.

While studying medicine in Beijing, he volunteered to look after leprosy patients (an opportunity offered to all medical students there, in the days before [[Alexander Fleming|Fleming]] and modern [[antibiotics]]). From then on, he wanted to care for leprosy patients.<ref name="rediff - part 2" />

== Diplomatic career ==
With a law degree in hand, he decided to join the German foreign service, as that would take him overseas.<ref name="rediff - part 2" /> In 1952–1953 he completed his training for the higher diplomatic and consular service in [[Speyer]], Rhineland-Palatinate, passing the final exam in 1953. He began his career at the German [[legation]] in [[Addis Ababa]], [[Ethiopia]], followed by a posting to the consulate in Hong Kong from 1957 to 1960, when he took over the consulate in Madras. In 1963 he was promoted to [[Consul (representative)|Consul]], and in 1964 returned to the [[Bonn]] headquarters of the Foreign Office (''[[Auswärtiges Amt]]''). He was appointed to the rank of Councillor (''Vortragender Legationsrat'') in 1966 and from 1968 headed a political department there, becoming a First Councillor (''Vortragender Legationsrat Erster Klasse'') shortly afterwards.<ref name="Munzinger" />

His first appointment as Ambassador came in 1970, when he represented [[West Germany]] in [[Kuala Lumpur]], Malaysia. In March 1974 he was promoted to lead a large department in the Foreign Office dealing with Asia and Latin America. His second ambassadorial appointment came in July 1977, when he was sent to [[Dublin]], followed by further appointments to [[The Hague]], [[Netherlands]] (early 1980) and [[Bern]], [[Switzerland]] (mid-1983). In December 1985, only six months before reaching his normal retirement age, he resigned from the diplomatic service in order to devote more time to leprosy patients in India.<ref name="Munzinger" />

Fischer later said that taking a European posting, after his service in [[Vietnam]], [[Malaysia]] and [[India]] was a "mistake".<ref name="rediff - part 2" />

== Work with leprosy and polio patients ==
As well as volunteering with leprosy patients during his medical training in Beijing, Fischer had also looked after leprosy patients in his free time at [[Addis Ababa]] and Hong Kong.<ref name="Munzinger" />

Fischer's work with leprosy patients in India began in 1960, when he was German [[Consul-General]] in Madras (now [[Chennai]]), in [[Tamil Nadu]].
A German doctor, [[Elizabeth Vomstein]], had asked for his help in obtaining a work permit so that she could work with a French nun she had heard of who was helping leprosy patients in Chettipatty, near [[Salem, Tamil Nadu|Salem]]. Fischer successfully helped her get the work permit, then drove with her to Chettipatty. Fischer remained in post in Tamil Nadu for four years, during which time he regularly visited Vomstein's station in Chettipatty, which she slowly built up to what he regarded as a "model station".<ref name="rediff - part 3" />

After resigning from the diplomatic service in 1985, Fischer regularly spent six months each year in India, and six months in the summer with his wife at their small farm near [[Chiemsee]], a lake in [[Bavaria]]. His wife, Ann, ran the administration, fund-raising and publicity for Fischer's work. They had decided not to have "an administration", so Fischer and his wife did everything on their own. Fischer said that his wife "deserves half this prize" (the Gandhi Peace Prize).<ref name="rediff - part 1" />

Until 1991 he worked with Elizabeth Vomstein at her station in Chettipatty. He found her "very, very difficult", but said, "If she wasn't that type, she wouldn't have lasted 38 years."<ref name="rediff - part 3" /> By 1991, he had had enough, and started out on his own.<ref name="rediff - part 3" /> He had already built his own leprosy station in the foothills of the [[Himalayas]], and in the following years he established health centres, workshops and schools throughout India, building wells and latrines, and obtaining Jeeps, minibuses and other supplies. He was also involved with projects in [[Nepal]] and [[Vietnam]].<ref name="Munzinger" />

Fischer regarded curing leprosy as the easy part, with modern medicines, good treatment and good food.<ref name="rediff - part 3" /> Much more important to Fischer was rehabilitation,<ref name="heart - The Hindu" /> which he regarded as his primary aim. He recognised that patients with missing legs or fingers would have no chance of surviving outside his stations. So he trained them in skills to earn a living, such as making [[chappal]]s, table cloths, mats, bed covers, beautiful carpets, and so on. He hoped to reach a position where his stations would no longer need donations, but could survive on their production.<ref name="rediff - part 3" />

=== Polio ===
Fischer's leprosy treatment, rehabilitation and vocational training centres also cared for polio victims. By 2005, new polio cases had been greatly reduced, thanks to vaccination and joint efforts between the Indian government and NGOs. As a result, Fischer's centres were able to take on additional responsibilities in other areas. But Fischer stressed the need for medical practitioners in the primary health centres to maintain a watch over polio and leprosy, and to be trained in recognising the symptoms.<ref name="Fischer back - The Hindu" /><ref name="marathon - The Hindu" />

=== Attitudes to leprosy ===
Fischer insisted that his patients should never be called "lepers", but rather "leprosy patients". Although he stated that he believed in ''[[karma]]'', he condemned the consequent fatalism of, and inaction towards, leprosy patients in India, saying "It is not their fault. It is the bloody bug that caught them." He felt that they were outcasts who needed attention. In his Gandhi peace prize acceptance speech at the [[Rashtrapati Bhavan]], he said, "Don't treat us like outcasts. Don't treat us like the forgotten. We are also here in this country although you don't care about us."<ref name="rediff - part 2" /> Many visitors to his stations couldn't face the physically horrible nature of the disease, but Fischer said that it was far worse mentally to be an outcast from one's family and community. He said, "If you work in a leprosy community, the mental anguish is supreme and it is no different for me."<ref name="rediff - part 3" />

Fischer would touch all his patients, saying ''Nalla thane irukku'' ("You are all right"). He never wore a mask or gloves, as he thought the "human side" of his work was very important, that there should be no barriers, and that there was "no difference between us, two human beings".<ref name="rediff - part 3" />

=== "Leprosy is curable" ===
Fischer said, "I need publicity. I want to beat the drum, Leprosy is curable. Come and watch. Forget about the stigma. Forget about treating them as outcasts. Here I am constantly shouting to make the community aware and this Prize gives me a chance to focus the attention on 'us' who are forgotten."<ref name="rediff - part 3" />

=== Importance of early treatment ===
Fischer always emphasised the importance of early treatment. Patients were reluctant to admit that they might have leprosy, because of the fear of being thrown out of their family and community. Fischer said, "If you get early treatment, nobody can see that you ever had leprosy. This message is very important."<ref name="rediff - part 3" />

== Gandhi peace prize ==
Fischer received the Indian government's [[Gandhi Peace Prize]] for 1997 in New Delhi on 5 January 1998 from the President of India, [[K. R. Narayanan]]. The selection committee was unanimous in its decision to award the prize to Fischer.<ref name="Rotarian 1999-02" /> The prize carried an award of 10 million [[Indian rupee|rupees]], which Fischer used to set up a foundation for his humanitarian work.<ref name="Munzinger" /> In his acceptance speech at the [[Rashtrapati Bhavan]], the official residence of the [[President of India]], Fischer said, "It is not enough to have compassion, ''[[Daya (Sikhism)|daya]]'', ''[[karuṇā]]'', and pity for the leprosy patients. We lepers, we don't care about compassion. We want action."<ref name="rediff - part 3" /> Referring to the government slogan of "eradicating leprosy by 2000", he said that his speech made people such as [[Sonia Gandhi]], who were sitting in the front of the audience, very uncomfortable.<ref name="rediff - part 3" />

== Death ==
Fischer died in [[Copenhagen]] on 3 July 2006, aged 84 years.<ref name="Munzinger" /> On 8 July 2006, a silent procession was organised at [[Ayikudi]] as a mark of respect.<ref name="tributes - The Hindu" /> N.S. Rao, a former colleague of Fischer at the German consulate in Madras, said that Fischer "applied a missionary zeal to anything he put his mind to. He and his wife were a perfect two-people team and worked all over the country with tremendous energy and indefatigable enthusiasm. After his wife's death, he had been carrying on his social work relentlessly."<ref name="Obit - The Hindu" /> Rao added that Fischer's daughter, Karen Fischer Koch, carried on her father's work after his death.<ref name="Muthiah 2006-10-16" />

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em| refs =

<ref name="Chennai Online">{{Cite web| title = Fighting on many Fronts
| publisher = chennaionline.com
| url = http://archives.chennaionline.com/society/leprosy.asp
| date = n.d. | access-date = 26 December 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="Fischer back - The Hindu">{{Cite news| title = Tamil Nadu / Chennai News: Fischer is back, for one last time
| last = Radhakrishnan | first = R. K.
| newspaper = [[The Hindu]]
| url = http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/21/stories/2005112106150500.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070528145809/http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/21/stories/2005112106150500.htm
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 28 May 2007
| date = 21 November 2005 | access-date = 19 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="heart - The Hindu">{{Cite news| title = Life Coimbatore: A heart of compassion
| last = Ilangovan | first = R.
| newspaper = [[The Hindu]]
| url = http://www.hindu.com/lf/2005/02/03/stories/2005020301830200.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121108100123/http://www.hindu.com/lf/2005/02/03/stories/2005020301830200.htm
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 8 November 2012
| date = 3 February 2005 | access-date = 19 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="IITM History">{{Cite web| title = Indian Institute of Technology Madras: History
| publisher = [[Indian Institute of Technology Madras]]
| url = http://www.iitm.ac.in/history
| date = n.d. | access-date = 17 December 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="Jenner 2005-08-01">{{Cite web| title = Supporting India's Lepers
| last = Jenner | first = Pamela
| publisher = forachange.co.uk
| url = http://forachange.co.uk/browse/2048.html
| date = 1 August 2005 | access-date = 26 December 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="marathon - The Hindu">{{Cite news| title = A marathon effort for school, clinic
| newspaper = [[The Hindu]]
| url = http://www.hindu.com/2004/02/28/stories/2004022811220700.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041118012822/http://www.hindu.com/2004/02/28/stories/2004022811220700.htm
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 18 November 2004
| date = 28 February 2004 | access-date = 17 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="Munzinger">{{Cite web| title = Gerhard Fischer – Munzinger Biographie
| language = de
| publisher = munzinger.de
| url = http://www.munzinger.de/search/document?index=mol-00&id=00000015969&type=text/html&query.key=A5cUWRLh&template=/publikationen/personen/document.jsp&preview=
| date = 25 November 2006 | access-date = 8 December 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="Muthiah 2006-10-16">{{Cite news| title = Metro Plus Chennai / Columns: When the postman knocked
| last = Muthiah | first = S.
| newspaper = [[The Hindu]]
| url = http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/10/16/stories/2006101600350500.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071026070524/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/10/16/stories/2006101600350500.htm
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 26 October 2007
| date = 16 October 2006 | access-date = 19 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="Obit - The Hindu">{{Cite news| title = National: Gerhard Fischer passes away
| last = Radhakrishnan | first = R. K.
| newspaper = [[The Hindu]]
| url = http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/05/stories/2006070505711300.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080917020204/http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/05/stories/2006070505711300.htm
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 17 September 2008
| date = 5 July 2006 | access-date = 17 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="rediff - part 1">{{Cite news| title = Rediff On The NeT: The Rediff Interview/Gerhard Fischer (part 1)
| last = Warrier | first = Shobha
| work = Rediff.com
| url = http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jul/18bapu.htm
| date = 18 July 1998 | access-date = 17 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="rediff - part 2">{{Cite news| title = Rediff On The NeT: The Rediff Interview/Gerhard Fischer (part 2)
| last = Warrier | first = Shobha
| work = Rediff.com
| url = http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jul/18bapu1.htm
| date = 18 July 1998 | access-date = 17 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="rediff - part 3">{{Cite news| title = Rediff On The NeT: The Rediff Interview/Gerhard Fischer (part 3)
| last = Warrier | first = Shobha
| work = Rediff.com
| url = http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jul/18bapu2.htm
| date = 18 July 1998 | access-date = 17 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="Rotarian 1999-02">{{Cite news| title = Rotarian honours
| magazine = [[The Rotarian]]
| page = 53
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=njQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Gerhard+Fischer%22+2006+OR+leprosy+OR+Gandhi&pg=PT54
| date = February 1999 | access-date = 17 November 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="tributes - The Hindu">{{Cite news| title = Tamil Nadu / Tirunelveli News: Tributes paid to Gerhard Fischer
| newspaper = [[The Hindu]]
| url = http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/10/stories/2006071005100300.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121108100143/http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/10/stories/2006071005100300.htm
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 8 November 2012
| date = 10 July 2006 | access-date = 19 November 2010
}}</ref>

}}

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite news| title = DER SPIEGEL 12/1986 – Lieber noch mal etwas Sinnvolles tun
| last = Von Ihlau | first = Olaf
| magazine = [[Der Spiegel]]
| language = German
| url = http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13518335.html
| date = 17 March 1986 | access-date = 12 December 2010
}}

{{Gandhi Peace Prize laureates}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Gerhard}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of West Germany to Ireland]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of West Germany to Malaysia]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of West Germany to the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of West Germany to Switzerland]]
[[Category:German health activists]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Leprosy activists]]
[[Category:Leprosy in China]]
[[Category:Leprosy in India]]
[[Category:Leprosy nurses and caregivers]]
[[Category:Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Peking University alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Gandhi Peace Prize]]

Gerhard Fischer (diplomat) - Revision history

>GreenC bot: Rescued 6 archive links; reformat 6 links. Wayback Medic 2.5