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George Norbert Kates (November 27, 1895 – March 23, 1990) is a leading American exponent of classical Chinese culture and decorative arts. His memoir of life in 1930s Beijing—''The Years That Were Fat, Peking 1933-1940''〔Harper, 1952〕 is one of the most widely read books about pre-revolution China.〔published on five occasions - 1952, 1967, 1976, 1989 and 2015〕 He also authored the first and one of the leading texts on Chinese classical furniture—''Chinese Household Furniture''〔Dover, 1948〕 and put together one of the most significant private collections of Ming style hardwood furniture. An accomplished scholar and a brilliant linguist, Kates graduated ''summa cum laude'' from Harvard in 1922 and was awarded a D.Phil. from Oxford University in 1930. An officer in the U.S. Army during WWI, he also served with the State Department in China during WWII. From 1947 to 1949 he was Asian Curator at the Brooklyn Museum. As well as his two most famous works, Kates authored a large number of articles about Chinese history and decorative arts and also contributed to two books about author Willa Cather. In literature he has perhaps become synonymous with the period that has come to be known as ''Old Beijing'' (which, although it incorporated features of a much earlier period, approximates to the first half of the 20th century). He has been written about in that context by several authors,〔''Cathay'', Fergus Bordewich. The ''Last Days of Old Beijing'', Michael Meyer. ''A Love Affair with Old Beijing'', John Roote〕 also as an important collector of Chinese antiques〔''The China Collectors'', Meyer & Blair Brysac, p.114〕 and for his significant contribution to the understanding of the Chinese decorative arts.〔''Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture'', Handler〕 == Early life == Kates was born in Avondale, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio on November 27, 1895.〔The China Collectors, Meyer & Blair Brysac, p.113〕 His father, Norbert, was an immigrant from the Ukrainian city of Brody.〔A Love Affair with Old Beijing, Roote, Chapter 18〕 His mother was a second generation American, the child of German immigrants.〔The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 19, No.4, November 1990, p.1014, Obituary of George Kates, Pamela Atwell〕 Both parents were Jewish, although Kates was brought up in a secular household. In 1896 the family moved to New York City where Norbert Kates built a successful export business,〔The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 19, No.4, November 1990, p.1014, Obituary of George Kates, Pamela Atwell〕 selling manufacturing goods and equipment to Latin American buyers. His work took him on numerous voyages to countries throughout Central and South America. Sometimes the whole family travelled abroad together, two parents, George, his sister Beatrice, a nanny and governess, to Chile, Argentina, Cuba and Mexico.〔The Years That Were Fat, Kates, p.2〕 In Mexico City George briefly attended a German high school.〔The Years That Were Fat, Kates, p.2〕 The Kates family lived in the fashionable and luxurious Ansonia Hotel on Broadway when it opened in 1905 until 1914.〔A Love Affair with Old Beijing, Roote, Chapter Thirteen - The Making of a Scholar〕 Kates attended middle and high school at Horace Mann preparatory school, then at Morningside Heights, New York, and graduated in 1913.〔The China Collectors, Meyer & Blair Brysac, p.113〕 Kates spent two years studying at Columbia University School of Architecture,〔The China Collectors, Meyer & Blair Brysac, p.114〕 with an intervening year during which he sailed aboard a Belgian cadet training ship all the way from New York to Cape Town, Calcutta and Melbourne, and back again.〔The Years That Were Fat, Kates, p.2〕 In 1917 when America entered WWI, Kates enlisted and served as a medical orderly for a year, before being promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and serving as a translator〔The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 19, No.4, November 1990, p.1014, Obituary of George Kates, Pamela Atwell〕 (Kates was a fluent speaker of French and German). He did not return home until 1919. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George N. Kates」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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