Roman Malek (3 October 1951 – 29 November 2019) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

-born

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

professor and sinologist.

Biography

Born in

Bytów Bytów (; csb, Bëtowò; formerly german: Bütow ) is a town in the Gdańsk Pomerania region of northern Poland with 16,730 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Bytów County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. The origins of Bytó ...

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

, Malek entered the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in 1969. He studied philosophy, theology, and comparative religions, completing a doctorate in

Sinology Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to th ...

(1984) and a

Habilitationsschrift Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

on the Chinese theologian

Wu Leichuan Wu Leichuan (; alt. ) (1870–1944) was a leading Chinese theologian in the early 20th century and Chancellor of Yenching University. Biography From his childhood, Wu poured his energy into mastering the Confucian classics and working his way u ...

(2003), both at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

. Malek was a professor of philosophy and religious sciences at SVD Saint Augustin University of Philosophy and Theology and a sinology professor at the

. Malek was a prolific scholar, producing more than 970 academic pieces. Malek was also an experienced editor, overseeing the publication of 20 volumes of the journal ''

Monumenta Serica ''Monumenta Serica - Journal of Oriental Studies'' (Chin. 華裔學志, Huayi xuezhi) and for the web is an international academic journal of sinology. It is published by Monumenta Serica Institute in Sankt Augustin. The editor-in-chief was unt ...

'' and editing three book series which produced 75 volumes. In 2018, he moved back to his native Poland and died due to illness on 29 November 2019.

Works

* * * A bibliography of his 970 works can be found in the two-volume

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

produced in his honor, ''Rooted in Hope'' (2017).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malek, Roman 1951 births 2019 deaths Religion academics Christian missions in China World Christianity scholars History of Christianity in China 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Polish sinologists Academic staff of the University of Bonn