Talk this Friday: Solomon Bard Remembers

Internet searches about Hong Kong's history often turn up books by Solomon Bard, so I'm pleased to see there's a chance to hear him speak this Friday. He was born in 1916, and has packed so much into his long life that there is certainly no shortage of material. Here are the details of the talk, hosted by the Royal Asiatic Society:

Speaker: Dr Solomon Bard
Date/Time: Friday 20 March, 6.30 pm
Venue: 8th Floor, City Hall High Block, Central
Booking: This lecture is free and open to the public, with no booking required

Dr Solomon Matthew Bard, an Honorary Fellow of our Society and a noted historian and archeologist, last spoke to the Society in November 2004 about his experiences in the battle of Hong Kong in 1941 and subsequent imprisonment. Dr Bard will be coming to Hong Kong from his retirement home in Australia to conduct the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. He has graciously agreed to talk informally to us about his early life in Siberia, Harbin and Shanghai. He will also talk about his recently published book, Light and Shade: Sketches from an Uncommon Life, published by Hong Kong University Press.

Born in Russia, Dr Bard lived most of his working life in Hong Kong. A graduate in medicine from the University of Hong Kong in 1939, he served in the Hong Kong Volunteers Field Ambulance Unit and when Hong Kong fell in December 1941, he was imprisoned by the Japanese. After the war he was Director of the Student Health Service at the University, and then from 1976 to 1983, he was Executive Director of the Antiquities and Monuments Office. He occasionally conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and was the full-time Assistant Music Director of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra from 1983 to 1987. In 1993 he moved to Australia but has maintained close links with Hong Kong. He is currently Honorary Advisor in archaeology and local history to the Hong Kong Museum of History.