Giovanni Stary (1946–2022) in memoriam

Abstract

Giovanni Stary, renowned expert on Manchu and Europe’s only ordinary professor of Manchu studies, at the University Ca’ Foscari at Venice, passed away on 19 October 2022, on account of heart failure. He had suffered a stroke in June 2009 that limited his activities and led to his resignation from the University on 1 November 2011. He had a major influence on the development of Manchu studies, mainly through his many publications and his frequent participation in international conferences and symposia. Although he had a number of gifted students, this did not lead to a revival of Manchu research in Italy. Giovanni Stary was born on 27 March 1946 in Merano (Meran), South Tyrol, a region to which he remained attached throughout his life. The family had roots in Bohemia, where the family name may have come from, and Giovanni told us that a grandmother came from Berlin. He was supposed to be called Hans, but immediately after the war a German name was forbidden in Italian Tyrol, and so hewas christenedGiovanni. His father, the typographerHeinrich Stary (1906–1977), collected Tyrolensia and stamps, and he passed this philatelic hobby on to his son. His mother, Grete Moser (1906–1977), looked after the household. Stary attended grammar school in Bressanone (Brixen), where he was particularly impressed by his teacher and headmaster, the Sinologist Martin Benedikter (1908–1969), who later on became a professor of Sinology in Padua. Stary’s inclination towards China, which had been ignited by stamps and travel descriptions, was encouraged by his teacher; however, Benedikter also advised him to choose Eastern Europe as a subject of study, probably taking into account the career prospects at the time. After graduating from high school, Stary did his military service Giovanni Stary, ca. 2003 (courtesy of the family) Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies, 71. 1, 217–225, June 2023