Fred Fischer was born as Freddy Humphrey Fischer on September 13, 1921, and passsed away on February 28, 2018, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
His father, Karel Alexander Fischer, was a businessman and first violinist in his Mozart and Schubert orchestra in Amsterdam. His grandfather, Johan Friedrich Fischer, came from Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and his grandmother, Christina Johanna Tänser came from Hessen, Germany. They left Germany in 1898 and went to South-Africa. There they stayed for four years and then came to the Netherlands.
His mother, Charlotte Dorothea Frederika Heijman, came from a big musical family of tailors in Zaandam in the province of North-Holland. She could play the violin, the piano and the mandolin. There were three children born in her marriage with Karel A. Fischer: Thea, Lex and Fred.
Fred Fischer also has precious memories of his caretaker Maartje Schmid.
In 1939, age eighteen, Fischer began studying mathematics and physics, at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) but because of World War II, he could not continue his studies. After the war, he came back to the University, earning his doctorandus degree in mathematics and physics, with a minor in astronomy, in 1951. Later on he also studied philosophy at the UvA.
In the 1960s Fischer served on the Amsterdam City Council as a member of the Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij (Pacifist Socialist Party: PSP).
For 24 years (1949-73) he taught mathematics at various schools in Amsterdam, the Montessori Lyceum and the Barlaeus Gymnasium, and at the Gymnasium in Hilversum.
In 1970 Fischer wrote the essay 'Denken over Zijn' ('Thinking about Being') which dealt with analysis of consciousness.
Thereafter for 10 years (1976-86) he led numerous cultural tours to Asia: China (10 times), India (7), Sri Lanka (10), Thailand (8), Burma and Japan (each twice). Before then he had travelled extensively in Africa (Senegal, Cameroon, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Mali, the Ivory Coast, and Egypt). He also visited Indonesia twice.
For 23 years (1995-2018) Fischer has been leading a philosophy discussion group in the Amsterdam Community Center ‘De Boomspijker,’ in the center of Amsterdam.
In 2012, he completed the book Het Scheermes van Amsterdam, which treats more extensively the themes of identity, consciousness, and religion. The Amsterdam Razor is the English translation of this book.
On February 28, 2018, Fischer passed away after a short illness (pneumonia). He has made his body available to science.
1948 - 1965
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Fred Fischer was married to Neeltje Lust whose family came from |
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