Birth date: Oct 30, 1924 Death date: Jan 19, 2020
On January 19th, 2020, Siegfried Ramler died peacefully at his home in Maunawili, at 95 years of age. He was born in Vienna, Austria on October 30, 1924. He is survived by his devoted wife, Kiyoko Koizumi Ramler, his children Davi Read Obituary
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My students of Simultaneous Interpretation get to listen to his description of his participation in Nuremberg and are given a discussion on his views about the role of the interpreter. I feel this man was such an icon of contemporary culture and such a gentleman. I have learned so much from him. Every student of language, translation and interpretation should read about Siegfried Ramler.
What a gentle man, gentleman, too.
We translated his autobiography into German, met him several times, including at his presentation of the book in Nuremberg in hall 600 where he had spent so much time listening to so many atrocities and crimes against humanity before interpreting and translating them for the court.
What terror and what times and what a life from growing up in Vienna, being shipped off to London by his parents as a child, from there to The Nuremberg Trials and afterwards to Hawaii.
I for one can only recommend reading his book/autobiography: it shows what humanity and humane thinking and behaving are all about. R.I.P., Sig!
You changed my life, Mr. Ramler. For that, you will always be in my heart. May peace and love be with you. BTW, Dad says hi.
Ran
I was a student at Punahou School from 1955 until graduating in 1960. I took four years of German from, and, just as important, was the advisor of the forum and debate club, of which I was a highly enthusiastic member. He was then also the Chair of the Foreign Language Department, in which my mother, the late Nadia Pitoëff-Burkett, taught French.
I have very fond memories of "Mr. Ramler," as we students called him (my mom and some other peers affectionately called him "Siggie"). He was an excellent teacher, who gave me a genuine liking for the German language. He was a superlative debate coach, who inspired me and my debate partner, Cynthia Ai-Embry, to the point where we held the Honolulu high-school debate championship for two years in a row. He was also very kind and considerate, never showing a trace of impatience or annoyance. My feelings for him remain feelings of great fondness, respect, and admiration for the many wonderful, impressive things he went on to achieve after I was gone from Hawaii.
Georges Dicker, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
State University of New York College at Brockport
I met Sig at a book signing in 2009 and had him sign a copy to me. We shared a background in foreign language teaching and beginning programs of study abroad. I retired as a Prof. of Russian at Arizona State University in 2011, having led and administered such programs. My wife and I then owned a condo on Lili'uokani and the Ala Wai in Waikiki and I met him again at a Borders bookstore. I told him how much I admired his writing of Nuremburg and Beyond...and also the aspects of his life, caring for his Hawaiian wife and such. One of my ASU colleagues, a holocaust survivor from Poland, bought his book on my recommendation and was very positively impressed with it. So, I'd just like to tell the family that the legacy of his amazing life is large with me and with my associates. Aloha. Lee B. Croft ([email protected]).
