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Erich B. Kusch
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Interview
Biography
Born in Trieste in 1930, he grew up and studied in Koblenz in Germany, graduating in
1949. From 1949 to 1955 he studied German literature, art history and political economy at
the Universities of Bonn and Florence.
In 1955 he began working as a journalist, first as parliamentary correspondent in the
press office of Dieter von Konig in Bonn, and later in Rome for a number of German
publications. In 1956 he was a war correspondent in Egypt during the Suez Crisis.
In 1961 he became the first German to reach the South Pole.
In the course of his journalistic career he has written pieces from all over the world
and has been special correspondent during many of the Pope's travels.
Since 1994 he has been a correspondent at ARD and the director of ARD's Rome office.
He has often contributed to Italian newspapers, magazines, radio and television
programmes, particularly on the theme of Italo-German relations, a subject which has
interested him since the 1950s.
He has participated in numerous Italo-German conferences, and several times accompanied
Italian President Sandro Pertini on his trips to Germany.
A member of the 'Deutsch-Italienischer Freundeskreis' (Italo-German friends circle), he
was a founding member of the Centro Italo-Tedesco Villa Vigoni, of which he is president
since 1994.
He has taken part in numerous conferences and lectured in journalism at the "pro
deo" University in Rome, now "Luiss".
He is currently president of the foreign press in Italy, a post he has held for several
years.
Erich Kusch has received wide recognition for his work as a journalist (the City of
Rome Prize, the Alcide De Gasperi Prize, the Castiglione di Sicilia Prize) and has been
awarded several honours including the first class Cross of Merit of the German Federal
Republic for his work on Italo-German relations in 1990 and Commander of the order of
merit of the Italian Republic in 1991.
He is a member of the 'Comin' (Committee of Information and Peace Initiatives) which,
under the patronage of the President of the Italian Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, is
dedicated to promoting initiatives for peace and European unification. |