Erich Feigl was an Austrian documentary film producer and author. He produced almost 60 documentaries, mostly for the Austrian ORF but some for BR, ZDF and TRT in co-production. He authored books about the Habsburgs, whose restoration he supported, and the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide, which he denied until his death.
Biography
Erich Feigl was born in Vienna, Austria. He began writing while still a student, but soon switched over to documentary film-making, continuing his career at Austrian State Television. He toured the Middle and Near East and Western Asia extensively and produced many documentaries about these places and their cultures and religions. He worked with the Dalai Lama on various projects. Feigl became interested in Turkic cultures and history, especially. After 1984 he began writing about the Armenian Genocide, and he subsequently also focused his attention on Kurdish issues and the PKK guerrilla organization, which resulted in his book published under the title Die Kurden in 1995. He was one of the first authors and commentators to investigate this topic in a contemporary context. He also wrote about the history of the Habsburgs. Feigl was a long-time monarchist activist, and in 2006 was awarded honorary membership of the Black-Yellow Alliance, which favors the return of theHouse of Habsburg to power. Described by Der Spiegel as a "fervent admirer" of Empress Zita, he was part of the monarchist committee which organized her funeral in 1989. Feigl received the Medal for the Progress of the Republic of Azerbaijan and was an honorary Board member of the Congress of European Azeris. Feigl had died of kidney failure after being hospitalised for a stomach hemorrhage. He was cremated at Feuerhalle Simmering, with his ashes being buried on February 5 at Simmering Cemetery in Vienna.
A Myth of Terror
In 1986 Feigl became well known after the publication of his book A Myth of Terror: Armenian Extremism: Its Causes and Its Historical Context. In the book's introduction, Feigl writes he had written it as a response to the murder of close friend and Turkish labour attaché, Erdogan Özen, by the members of the Armenian Revolutionary Army. Initially published in German, an English version was later produced. Complimentary copies of the book were distributed by Turkish organisations to US governmental officials, university libraries and individuals. A short time before he died he finished his last book, called Armenian Mythomania. Dagmar Lorenz, professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in a book review of author Edgar Hilsenrath for the Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual, notes Feigl as a supporter of "Turkish cryptofascist anti-Armenian propaganda" and condemns A Myth of Terror as a "revisionist publication" that "abounds with misleading details". Feigl's work was also criticized by prof. Klas-Göran Karlsson for misinterpretations.
* Also published in English as: A Myth of Terror, Armenian Extremism: Its Causes and Its Historical Context, 1986.
* Translated to Turkish as Bir terör efsanesi, published by Milliyet Yayınları in 1987.
* Translated to French as Un mythe de la terreur : l'extrémisme arménien: ses causes et ses origines; une documentation illustrée Salzburg : Druckhaus Nonntal, 1991.
* Pravda o terrore : armi︠a︡nskiĭ terrorizm—istoki i prichiny Baku : Azerbaĭdzhanskoe gos. izd-vo, 2000.
* La mitomanía Armenia : el extremismo Armenio: causas y contexto histórico Freilassing; Salzburg : Edition Zeitgeschichte, 2007.
Halbmond und Kreuz. Marco d'Aviano und die Rettung Europas. Amalthea, Wien 1983,
* Translated to French as Zita de Habsburg : mémoires d'un empire disparu, Paris : Criterion, 1991
Films
Reise in die frühchristliche Welt and Die Erben der frühchristlichen Welt
Die Weltreligionen: Buddhismus, Hinduismus, Schintoismus, Islam, Christentum
Ein Tropentraum
Der Goldschatz
Menschen und Mythen
Kaiserin Zita and Otto von Habsburg and Alois Musil,
Die Religionen des Zweistromlandes,
Wenn die Götter lieben in the Wasser ist Macht project
