Peter P. Klassen (1926 – 29 July 2018) was a

Russian Mennonite The Russian Mennonites (german: Russlandmennoniten it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire occasionally Ukrainian Mennonites) are a group of Mennonites who are descendants of Dutch Anabaptists who settled for abo ...

author who wrote in the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

. He fled with his parents from

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, arriving there in 1931. He has had a distinguished career as the premier historian of

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

s in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Klassen has also worked as a teacher and was a long-time

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the Paraguayan Mennonite newspaper '' Mennoblatt''.

Selected works

* ''Die Mennoniten in Paraguay. Band 1: Reich Gottes und Reich dieser Welt'' (Bolanden-Weierhof, Germany 2001) * ''Kaputi Mennonita. Eine friedliche Begegnung im Chaco-Krieg'' (Asuncion, Paraguay 1976) * ''Und ob ich schon wanderte... Geschichten zur Geschichte der Wanderung und Flucht der Mennoniten von Preussen über Russland nach Amerika'' (Bolanden-Weierhof, Germany 1997) * ''Die schwarzen Reiter. Geschichten zur Geschichte eines Glaubensprinzips'' (Uchte, Germany 1999) * ''So geschehen in Kronsweide'' (Germany 2003)

References

External links

Books by Peter P. Klassen
in the German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek)
Laudatio für Peter P. Klassen
by Jakob Warkentin (2006)
"The 'Green Hell' Becomes Home: Mennonites in Paraguay as Described in the Writings of Peter P. Klassen"
by Gerhard Reimer, Mennonite Quarterly Review 2002
Pledge of Allegiance
by Peter P. Klassen (2008) 1926 births 2018 deaths Mennonite writers Paraguayan Mennonites German-language writers Emigrants from the Soviet Union Immigrants to Paraguay Paraguayan people of German descent Paraguayan male writers People from Boquerón Department {{Paraguay-writer-stub