GEHRTS, Heino. Hamburg 9.6.1913 — Alt Mölln, Lauenburg 10.10.1998. German Folklore Scholar. Educated in Hamburg, from 1933 studies of chemistry at Hamburg University, later switched to Germanistics and philosophy. War service in infantry in France, Russia and Italy, 1944 as war prisoner to Arizona, released in 1947. Worked as translator and wrote short stories. In the 1950s became interested in myths and rituals and soon began systematic comparative studies.

Publications: Mahābhārata. Das Geschehen und seine Bedeutung. 295 p. Abh. zur Kunst-, Musik- und Literaturwiss. 178. Bonn 1975; Rāmāyaṇa: Brüder und Braut im Märchen-Epos. 20+248 p. Ibid. 255. Bonn 1977.

Wrote on fairy tales and shamans; Schriften zur Märchen-, Mythen- und Sagenforschung: Gesammelte Aufsätze. 1-6. Hamburg 2014-19.

Sources: German Wikipedia with photo; his papers are kept in Archiv des Instituts für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene e. V. (IGPP) in Freiburg i. Br. (see www.academia.edu/4078912/Erschließung_des_Nachlasses_von_Heino_Gehrts_1913-1998_).