Vortrag 2025

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends of the Sabah Society. I am truly delighted to be here again today. Six years ago, I was here and gave a lecture on Syarif Osman of Marudu. Today I will focus more on Sandokan. Both Sandokan and Syarif Osman are two personalities who come from Sabah. So far, I have either given a lecture or written articles about one or the other. I am now working on a new book that will focus on both of them, not only because they were personally acquainted with each other, but also because the literary existence of one of them has brought the other back to mind. This is almost a marvellous story of coincidences, and I would like to tell you about that too.

My name is Bianca Maria Gerlich, I was born in 1967 in Braunschweig in Germany, and in April 1979, like most Germans, I sat in front of the TV and watched "Sandokan".

I had just turned 12 years old and was immediately hooked. The first thing I did the next morning was to look up Malaysia in the atlas. Unfortunately, it was too far away to just go there on holiday. But my curiosity was piqued and I wanted to know more about it. (So, here am I.)

Sandokan has been a very popular topic, especially in Italy, since the first Sandokan novel by the Italian author Emilio Salgari was published. Because the novel sold so well, he wrote more. After his death, other authors did the same, sometimes in his name. There were comic versions and the first Sandokan film was released in 1941. To date, there have been over 20 films. A new film will be released this year.

The popularity of Salgari's works can also be seen from the large number of editions in Italy and the countless translations. In addition to Italy, Salgari's works are particularly popular in Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries.

This is probably not only because Salgari wrote highly readable adventure literature, but also because it has anti-imperialist and, above all, liberal tendencies. Since 2010, a translation into Malaysian has finally been available, namely ‘Sandokan Lanun Malaysia’.

But who was Emilio Salgari, the author of Sandokan? And how did he come up with this theme?

Emilio Salgari was born in Verona in August 1862.

His mother was Luigia Gradara and his father was Luigi Salgari, who earned his living as a textile merchant.

Emilio wanted to become a sea captain and studied at the nautical institute in Venice from 1878, but he did not finsih his studies. He wanted to write adventure stories and published his first story at the age of 21. He published further novels as sequels from 1883, one of these is ‘La tigre della Malesia’ (‘The Tiger of Malaysia’) and became editor of newspapers.

He was always in financial need, so he wrote a lot and worked at night. When his wife's mental state deteriorated, she had to be hospitalised in 1910.

This was another reason why Salgari's finances went steadily downhill

and he knew no other way out than to commit suicide in a park at Torino in April 1911.

Salgari wrote more than 80 novels. In terms of content, they are mostly action-packed and imaginative adventure novels spiced with humour, and some have futuristic, historical and even scientific elements. Salgari often described nature in great detail. His novels were mostly set in distant, often exotic countries.

His style corresponds to the late Romantic era and he is categorised as an adventure writer alongside Louis Stevenson, the inventor of this genre, as well as Jules Verne, Thomas Mayne Reid and Karl May.

Salgari is still known for the high recognition value of his protagonists.

His best-known works are his two mayor cycles (or series), namely the Indo-Malay Cycle (‘Ciclo indo-malese’) and the Black Corsair Cycle (‘Ciclo dei corsari delle Antille’). It is his character Sandokan who is best known. He comes from the Indo-Malay Cycle.

In principle, Salgari's career as a writer began with his first Sandokan novel; the character would accompany him until the end of his life.