Lerch - Lerch, Teodor von

Japanese: レルヒ - Ｌｅｒｃｈ，Ｔｅｏｄｏｒｖｏｎ

Year of death: 1945.12.24(1945.12.24)
Born: August 31, 1869
An Austrian soldier who came to Japan during the Meiji period. The father of skiing in Japan. Born in Bratislava (the capital of the Slovak Republic) as the eldest son of an Austrian soldier (infantry regiment commander). In 1910, while serving as a major on the Austrian Army Staff, he came to Japan as a military attaché attached to the Takada Division in Niigata Prefecture. On January 12 of the following year, he taught skiing to Regimental Commander Horiuchi Bunjiro and others for the first time on Mt. Kanaya. The following year, he also instructed an artillery regiment in Asahikawa. A disciple of Tudalski (Austria), the originator of mountain skiing, he held a long walking stick at an angle and pushed his way down the snow. The army, which had experienced the bitter experience of the snow march disaster on Mt. Hakkoda (1902, 199 people froze to death), made an effort to absorb Lerch's skiing techniques, and they spread to the civilian population as well. In April 1945, he skied to the 9th station of Mt. Fuji. After returning to Japan in the same year, he retired as a major general. In 1940, he served as the head of the Japanese-German Cultural Association in Vienna.

(Takeda Fumio)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1945.12.24(1945.12.24)
生年：1869.8.31
明治時代に来日したオーストリア軍人。日本スキーの父。オーストリア軍人(歩兵連隊長)の長男としてブラチスラバ(スロバキア共和国の首都)で生まれる。オーストリア陸軍参謀少佐時代の明治43(1910)年,新潟県高田師団付き駐在武官として来日。翌年1月12日,金谷山で堀内文次郎連隊長らに初めてスキーを伝授。翌年,旭川でも砲兵連隊を指導した。山岳スキーの元祖ツダルスキー(オーストリア)の高弟で長い1本杖を斜めに構え,雪面を押すように滑った。八甲田山の雪中行軍大惨事(1902年,199人凍死)の苦い体験がある陸軍はレルヒのスキー技術の吸収に努め,民間にも広まった。45年4月,スキーで富士山9合目まで達した。同年帰国後,少将で退任。1940年ウィーンで日独文化協会長を務めた。<参考文献>中野理『スキーの黎明―レルヒ伝』

(武田文男)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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