Between Europe…		…and Asia

Carl D. Barkman (1919–2006)

Born in Amsterdam in 1919, Carl Barkman studied Sinology at the University of Leiden, Netherlands, with Russian as a subsidiary subject. He wrote a doctoral thesis The Return of the Torghuts from Russia to China, which was published in 1955 in Hong Kong (Journal of Oriental Studies).

Books and short stories

Ambassador in Athens

Carl Barkman arrived in Athens as the Dutch ambassador in 1969 during the early years of the Junta, and became in fact the most outspoken of the European Community representatives, interceding with the Colonels on behalf of political prisoners and bringing pressure to bear for the restoration of democratic government.

Princess Nirgidma (prelude to The Mandate)

Who was Nirgidma, to whom I dedicated my novel The Mandate, a Russian translation of which (entitled Nakaz Bogov) is now being published in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia? I shall try here to describe her extraordinary personality and her interesting life.