“My name is Leopold Leeb, and I am from Austria. I first came to Beijing in 1991. After living in Beijing for more than 30 years, Beijing has become my home.”

Leopold Leeb (born 1967 in Austria) has been teaching at the School of Liberal Arts of Renmin University of China since 2004. He has long been deeply engaged in the teaching and popularization of Western classical languages and culture.

By early 2026, he had published more than 40 Chinese-language works covering language education, religious studies, and civilizational exchange, making him an important contributor in the field of classical language education in China.

“I have always called Beijing ‘Lingdu’, my City of Inspiration . Beijing has many buildings and stone inscriptions that bear witness to cultural exchange between East and West. The streets and many places in Beijing remind me of cultural exchange and dialogue between East and West, and they continuously inspire me.”

Having lived in Beijing for more than 30 years, Leeb has long regarded the city as his spiritual home. Although Chinese is not his native language, he has taught in Chinese for many years, written lecture notes on the blackboard in traditional Chinese characters, and discussed both Chinese and Western scholarship. He is fluent in multiple languages, yet instead of focusing on German or English in his academic work, he has chosen to bring Latin, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Hebrew into university classrooms in China.

“Four hundred years ago, the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci came to Beijing and lived there until his death. On the one hand, he translated Western scientific knowledge into Chinese and published it in books. On the other hand, he also introduced Confucian classics to the West by translating parts of them into Latin. In other words, he served as a bridge and link between Eastern and Western cultures.”

“I teach Latin, Ancient Greek, and Ancient Hebrew in China. Through these languages, I have found my role in Chinese society and a meaningful way to contribute. I still enjoy this work, and I believe it will continue to bring me joy in the future. I can devote myself to promoting cultural exchange and building a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures.”

Even in the era of multimedia teaching, Leeb still insists on drawing diagrams and writing materials by hand with chalk. On the limited space of the blackboard, he draws maps, explains etymologies, and lays out lines of reasoning, gradually unfolding the intertwined threads of civilization on the blackboard. He has devoted nearly all of his time to these languages, and to the classroom in China.

“One very joyful experience is that my classes bring inspiration and encouragement to my students. I am holding an oil painting. This small painting was done by one of my students. She had taken my Latin classes for three or four semesters and is a middle school student who is very interested in Latin. To express her gratitude, she painted this picture, depicting me teaching in class. This painting greatly encouraged me as well. It is a form of affirmation that my teaching is effective and that students are happy in my classes. This makes me very satisfied and brings me great happiness.”