Dr. Christoph Staewen (14 July 1926 – 24 April 2002) was a German

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, specialist of psychiatry, neurology and

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

. In 1963 and early 1964 he visited parts of west and central Africa, amongst others the Tibesti region. In 1964, amongst the people of Yoruba, he began to study in Western Nigeria the conditions of uprooting of these people caused by the increasing confrontation with the technical civilisation of the "First World", and provoking more and more reactions of anxiety and deformations of behaviour. In Nigeria he received texts of the famous, secret Ifa-oracle. Later he worked for more than six years as all-round-doctor in Niger,

Congo-Brazzaville The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

and

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

, where he continued his research on African psychology. On 21 April 1974, he and two other Europeans were taken hostage by Hissène Habré, the later leader of

from 1982 until 1990. The other captives were two French citizens, Françoise Claustre, an archeologist, and Marc Combe, a development worker. Marc Combe escaped in 1975 but, despite the intervention of the French Government, Madame Claustre (whose husband was a senior French government official) was not released until 1 February 1977. Staewen (whose wife Elfriede was killed in the attack of capture) on the other hand was released after payments of West Germany, West German officials on 11 June 1974.http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-41443747.html (german language article)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staewen, Christophe German psychiatrists 1974 in Chad 1926 births 2002 deaths German expatriates in Nigeria German expatriates in Niger German expatriates in the Republic of the Congo German expatriates in Chad