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By
Dr Wolfgang Koehler *
6.30 pm, Wednesday 17th October 2007
Refreshments available from 6.00 pm, dinner 8.00 pm
Dr Wolfgang Koehler is a long time scholar and writer about the Middle East and East-West relations. His interest in the Middle East began in the 1960s, in his students’ days at Frankfurt University where he read German Literature, Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science, culminating in his PhD thesis on the influence of the Arabian Nights on German literature. During this period, he travelled to to the Middle east which heralded the beginning of a life of work in the region. He has spent 25 years in the Arab world: first teaching German at Alexandria University (1971-1974), later as member of the German Institute for Oriental Research in Beirut (1981-1982), then as the Middle East Correspondent for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (1983-2003), based in Beirut, and, later in Cairo. Prior to his appointment as Middle East Correspondent, he was lecturer and research assistant at the Department of Oriental Studies at Frankfurt University (1976-1980).
Now based in England, Dr Koehler continues in his research and writing on different Middle eastern subjects. He was a regular contributor to Middle East International, until the journal had to close down because of lack of financial support. His last publication was a chapter in a festschrift in honour of John Donohue, published by the German Institute in Beirut: “Not Conquerors but Liberators” – Imperialistic Powers in Iraq, from World War I to the Present. (2007).
