R. G. Tiedemann

Rolf Gerhard Tiedemann (8 February 1941 – 1 August 2019), better known as R. G. Tiedemann or Gary Tiedemann (Chinese: 狄德滿; pinyin: Dí Démǎn), was a German historian of Christianity in China.^[1]

R. G. Tiedemann
Born	(1941-02-08)8 February 1941
Died	1 August 2019(2019-08-01) (aged 78)
Nationality	German
Occupation	Historian
Known for	Christianity in China
Spouse	Liliana
Academic background
Alma mater	SOAS University of London University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Academic work
Discipline	History of Christianity in China Missiology
Institutions	SOAS University of London

Biography

Born in Hartenholm, Schleswig-Holstein in wartime Germany, Tiedemann left school as a teenager. At 21 he settled with family in Wisconsin, and was later drafted to train in the US army's Medical Training Unit in Texas during the Vietnam War. He completed a BA at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, followed by an MA and a PhD at SOAS University of London. After taking several part-time posts, Tiedemann spent twenty years teaching Modern History of China in SOAS's Department of History, including a sabbatical at the Ricci Institute, University of San Francisco. After his retirement, he maintained a post as Professorial Research Associate at SOAS and as Professor of Chinese History, Shandong University, Jinan.^[2][3]

His research mainly concerned the history of Christianity in China, with a particular focus on Shandong and the Boxer Rebellion. He also edited the second volume of the Handbook of Christianity in China,^[4] which totalled over a thousand pages; about half of the entries he wrote himself.^[5] Tiedemann was also a review editor of Journal of Peasant Studies.^[6]

A festschrift was published in honor of Tiedemann, edited by two of his former students, entitled The Church as Safe Haven (2018).^[7]

Tiedemann died on 1 August 2019, after suffering from illness for many years.^{[3] [8]}

Works

• Tiedemann, R. G. (2009). Reference Guide to Christian Missionary Societies in China: From the 16th to the 20th Century. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 9781315497310.
• Bickers, Robert; Tiedemann, R. G., eds. (2007). The Boxers, China and the World. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742553958.
• Tiedemann, R. G., ed. (2010). Handbook of Christianity in China, Vol. Two: 1800-Present. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-9004114302.