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Bernhard Christ

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Bernhard Christ
Bernhard Christ (2022)
Bernhard Christ (2022)
Born (1942-12-09) 9 December 1942 (age 81)
Basel, Switzerland
Known fortranslating the Divine Comedy into German

Bernhard Christ (born 9 December 1942 in Basel) is a Swiss lawyer, notary, politician and translator. Among other roles, he served as President of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt and was president of the Karl Barth foundation for 40 years. He is known for having translated and commented the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

Life

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Lawyer

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Bernhard Christ attended the gymnasium at Münsterplatz[1] and studied at the University of Basel, where he also earned his doctorate. Among other achievements, he was the lawyer for Firestone Switzerland Ltd in the sensational trial following the closure of the tire factory in Pratteln. The trial was about payments for the 600 workers who had been laid off.[2] He later worked as a senior partner at the law firm Vischer in Basel.[3]

Politician

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As a politician, Bernhard Christ was a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt from 6 November 1979 to 30 April 1988 and from 11 May 1992 to 31 January 2003 [4] and on 10 May 1984 elected President of the Grand Council.[5][6] He was also a member of the canton's constitutional council from 1999 to 2005,[7] president of the Constitutional Council,[8] a member of the cantonal education council and of the board of the Reformed Church[9] and of several charitable foundations.

Translator

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Bernhard Christ's translation of Dante's Divine Comedy was published in 2021 to mark the 700th anniversary of the death of the poet by Schwabe,[10][11] Christ translated the text into prose.[12] In the review by Ulrich Klappstein of Bernhard Christ's translation, the controversy of translating into verse or prose is discussed.[13]

Family

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Bernhard Christ has been married to Marie-Isabelle de Pury since 1975[14] and has three adult children and six grandchildren.

Publications

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  • Die Basler Stadtgerichtsordnung von 1719 als Abschluss der Rezeption in Basel, Basel and Stuttgart 1971 (Dissertation)[15]
  • Das Kontrollrecht des Kommanditärs, Juristischen Fakultät der Universität Basel, Basel and Stuttgart, 1973, Festgabe zum Schweizerischen Juristentag 1975
  • Der Darlehensvertrag, in: Schweizerisches Privatrecht, Obligationenrecht, Besondere Vertragsverhältnisse, Basel and Stuttgart 1979, Band VII, 2, Frank Vischer (Hrsg.)
  • Staatsrechtsgeschichtliche Anmerkungen zu einem Eidgenössischen Staatskalender aus dem Jahre 1718, Basel 1981, Festgabe Adolf Sebass
  • Reden des Präsidenten des Grossen Rates 1984/85, Basel, 1986, LDP Schriftenreihe 4
  • Der Grosse Rat von Basel-Stadt, in: Paul Stadlin (Hrsg.) Die Parlamente der schweizerischen Kantone, Zug 1990
  • (zusammen mit Markus Kutter), Liberale Politik - eine Standortbestimmung, 1. Ausgabe 1992, 2. Ausgabe 2014 (publication of the Liberal-Demokratic Party of the canton Basel-Stadt)
  • Die Loslösung der alten Eidgenossenschaft vom Heiligen Römischen Reich Deutscher Nation, Basel, 2000. In: Wettstein, die Schweiz und Europa, Historisches Museum Basel (Hrsg.), Basel 1998
  • Symposium für Frank Vischer, herausgegeben von Bernhard Christ und Ernst A. Kramer. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 2005
  • Basler Denkmalschutzrecht im Vollzug, in: 25 Jahre Basler Denkmalschutzgesetz – Ein kritischer Rückblick (Freiwillige Denkmalpflege, 2004 -2208) Basel 2008
  • Der Willensvollstrecker Art. 517 und 518 ZGB, in: Praxiskommentar Erbrecht, Daniel Abt/Thomas Weibel, Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag, Basel 2009; 5. Aufl. 2023
  • (translator and commentator) Dante Alighieri, Commedia, übertragen und erläutert von Bernhard Christ, Schwabe Verlag, Basel/Berlin 2021, ISBN 978-3-7965-4420-0

Awards

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Memberships

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  • Karl Barth Foundation,[18] Director from 1984 to 2024
  • E. E.[19] Zunft zum Schlüssel (Basel), Guild master from 1986 to 1998
  • Liberal-Demokratic Party (Basel-Stadt): Parliamentary party spokesman in the Great Council
  • Basel Historical Museum: Member from 1973/4, President under two directors in succession
  • State Commission for the Historical Museum Basel (Supervisory Board of the HMB): Member
  • Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation: Member of the Board of Trustees since 1986 and its chairman from 1997 to 2013[20]
  • Hansa AG: President of the Board of Directors
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References

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  1. ^ Alumni of the grammar gymnasium at Münsterplatz at the Website of the Department of Education of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  2. ^ Newspaper article “Firestone vor Gericht” in Walliser Bote, 22 November 1979 Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  3. ^ Bernhard Christ was entered in the commercial register of the Canton of Basel-Stadt until 2009. Source: SHAB No. 127 of 6 July 2009, S. 64, Publ. 5115440. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  4. ^ Website of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  5. ^ President of the Grand Council 1984. In: Staatskalender Basel-Stadt. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  6. ^ Elections to the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. No. 110, 12 May 1984, p. 36 Retrieved 30 September 2024
  7. ^ Source: Website Verfassungsrat Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  8. ^ Felix Rudolf von Rohr, Bernhard Christ: 80 years in the service of our “res publica”. In: bz. December 8, 2022 Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  9. ^ Bernhard Christ: “Our church should grow stronger and network more closely,” Evangelical Reformed Church of Basel-Stadt Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  10. ^ Preview of the introduction at ISSUU Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  11. ^ 53rd complete translation of the Divine Comedy on the list of the German Dante Society Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  12. ^ In the introduction, Christ comments on his translation in an unbound form: “Like other translations of the Commedia that have been created in recent decades, this one also dispenses with a poetic adaptation in verses. Unlike the situation seventy years ago, when Wolfgang Schadewaldt published his translation of the Odyssey, this no longer requires any justification. Karl Vossler aptly remarked in the introduction to his 1941 translation, written in flowing but unrhymed verses, that reproducing Dante's terze rime in German rhyming terzines was more of an 'acrobatic than artistic task'.”
  13. ^ Ulrich Klappstein: Dante lesen - Zur Neuübersetzung von Dantes „Commedia“ durch Bernhard Christ. In: literaturkritik.de. Nr. 1, Januar 2022 Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Pury, de, Marie-Isabelle". In: Base de données des élites suisses Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  15. ^ Review by Louis Carlen in: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte, Band 22 (1972)
  16. ^ doctorates of the Faculty of Theology, 1998–2023. In: unibas.ch
  17. ^ “Bernhard Christ was honored for his services to the Karl Barth Archive and his work on the complete edition of Barth's writings, lectures, letters and conversations,” said Lukas Kundert, President of the Church Council of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Basel-Stadt, in his laudatory speech. Source: evangelisch.de of 10 December 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  18. ^ Handelsregistereintrag der Karl Barth-Stiftung
  19. ^ E. E. stands for Eine Ehren
  20. ^ History of the Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation (1963 bis 2023), p. 4 (PDF in German). Source: Website of the Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation – About us
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