Suzuki Shigetaka (鈴木成高)
Shigetaka SUZUKI (1907 - 1988) was a Japanese scholar of history of the Western world (Specialized in medieval history of the Western world). He was one of the Kyoto school. He was granted Shogoi (Senior Fifth Rank) and decorated with the Order of the Sacred Treasure.
Brief Personal History
He was born in 1907. He graduated from Division of History, Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University. Before the War, he successively filled the posts of professor at the former Third High School (Daisan Koto Gakko) and associate professor at Kyoto Imperial University.
During the War, he participated in the symposia entitled 'World-historical position and Japan' and 'Overcoming the Modern' in which they tried to clarify the ideological position of the Greater East Asia War (the War of the Pacific) from the standpoint of 'Philosophy of the world history.'
After the War, he was judged unqualified for ideological reasons and left Kyoto University. After that, he successively filled the posts of professor and professor emeritus at Waseda University. He died in 1988.
He was called one of the 'Shitenno (four guardian kings) of the Kyoto school' with Masaaki KOSAKA, Keiji NISHITANI and Iwao TAKAYAMA. These four people were participants in the symposium entitled 'World-historical position and Japan' printed in the three issues of "Chuo Koron" from 1942 to the following year (January 1942 issue 'World-historical position and Japan,' April 1942 issue 'Morality and historical aspect of the East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere' and January 1943 issue 'Philosophy of all-out war').