Rüdiger Nehberg, also known as 'Sir Vival', (4 May 1935 – 1 April 2020) was a German

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

expert. He was the founder and chairman of the anti-

FGM Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

organization

TARGET Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

, and chairman of the organizations Friends of Peoples Close to Nature (German section – '')'' and ' (Save the Rainforest). He lived in Rausdorf near

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Nehberg described himself as having "No astrological sign, no church, no hair, and no clip in the ear (the latter means: he is a

maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

)".

Life and work

Nehberg was born in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

. After school, Nehberg initially became a

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

by trade, but increasingly turned his attention to outdoor

. He would finally sell his three bakeries and live from his books and lectures. In 1972, together with two friends, one of whom was shot dead in an ambush, he became one of the first to travel the length of the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...

in a home-made boat. Since 1980, he has been involved in defending the interests of the

Yanomami The Yanomami, also spelled Yąnomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 35,000 indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. Etymology The ethnonym ''Yanomami ...

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

. With his enterprise, "The Tree" (crossing the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

on a fir-tree in 2000), he contributed to the provision of a protected reservation for the Yanomami. In 1981 – followed by a camera team – he crisscrossed

without any special equipment and relying for his sustenance solely on what he was able to find in nature. In 1987, Nehberg crossed the

in a pedal boat. He was also one of the first to discredit the fraudulent " Tatunca Nara" story, which had gained publicity in the German and Brazilian media. A German worker named Hans Günther Hauck left his home near Nuremberg in 1967, moved into the Brazilian jungle, and proclaimed himself the leader of the secret Ugha-Mongulala tribe, which had lived hidden in the secret jungle city of Akakor for 15,000 years. Neither the city nor the tribe ever existed. Nevertheless, many filmmakers and adventure-loving men and women believed Nara, and three people even died during Tatunca-led jungle excursions. The circumstances that led to their deaths have never been fully revealed. In Nehberg's book ''Der selbstgemachte Häuptling'' (''The Self-Made Chieftain''), the whole story of this mysterious man and his deeds can be read. In September 2000, he founded the

organization TARGET to prevent the practice of

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

(FGM). For his commitment to endangered peoples, Nehberg was awarded the ''

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

'' ("Federal Cross for Merit"). In November 2006, TARGET organized and financed a conference under the patronage of the Egyptian Great Mufti

Ali Gomaa Ali Gomaa ( ar, علي جمعة, Egyptian Arabic: ) is an Egyptian Islamic scholar, Jurist, and public figure who has taken a number of controversial political stances. He specializes in Islamic Legal Theory. He follows the Shafi`i school of ...

Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. As a result of the conference, leading authorities of Islamic law denounced genital mutilation. In March 2009, Rüdiger Nehberg and Tarafa Baghajati met Sheikh Prof. Dr.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi Yusuf al-Qaradawi ( ar, يوسف القرضاوي, translit=Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of ...

in Qatar, one of the best known Islamic contemporary authority scholars. They obtained a

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

issued by the recognized legal scholar, stating that genital mutilation of girls is referred to and forbidden as "devil's work" because it is directed against the ethics of Islam. In August 2009 Nehberg married his second wife. In February 2011, Rüdiger Nehberg and Tarafa Baghajati met with Sheikh Prof. Dr.

Mohamed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti Mohammed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti ( ar, مُحَّمَد سَعِيد رَمَضَان ٱلْبُوطِي, Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī) (1929 - 21 March 2013) was a notable Sunni Muslim scholar who was also known as "Shaykh of the ...

and obtained a similar fatwa against female genital mutilation. In 2014 he gave a

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

talk about his work to prevent FGM.

Works

* ''Survival-Lexikon'', * ''Drei Mann, ein Boot, zum Rudolfsee'', * ''Abenteuer am Blauen Nil'', * ''Mit dem Baum über den Atlantik'', * ''Die Kunst zu Überleben, Survival'', * ''Survival'', * ''Survival-Abenteuer vor der Haustür'', * ''Überleben ums Verrecken'', * ''Echt verrückt!'', * ''Die Yanomami-Indianer'', * ''Abenteuer Urwald'', * ''Abenteuergeschichten'', * ''Rüdiger Nehberg – Die Autobiographie'',

References

External links

Rüdiger Nehberg's Homepage (German)

TARGET Human Rights Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nehberg, Rudiger 1935 births 2020 deaths Businesspeople from Bielefeld German human rights activists Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Activists against female genital mutilation German health activists Writers from Bielefeld