Renate von Gizycki

Renate von Gizycki was an ethnologist, South Pacific researcher and poet. From 1959 she studied ethnology, sociology, cultural anthropology, philosophy and history at the University of Göttingen, where she received her doctorate in 1970 with a dissertation on the role of the poet in Polynesian society. From 1975 onward, she undertook extended research stays in the South Pacific and Hawaii. Alongside teaching at Göttingen’s Institute of Ethnology, she worked as a freelance author and contributor for West German Broadcasting. She edited and translated works by Polynesian poets and writers and promoted their reception in Germany through lectures and readings. Her books include Nachbarn in der Südsee (1986), Begegnung mit Vietnam (1987) and Wo der Tag beginnt, enden die Träume (1998).