Born in Berlin, Germany, in 1940, Florian Deltgen grew up and studied mainly in West Germany. In 1973, he married his wife Edith. They had three children, who all died prematurely. Having lived and worked in the USA since 1983, the Deltgens became US citizens in 2006.
Dr. Deltgen studied anthropology, sociology, archeology, geology, political science, toxicology, medical anthropology, trans-cultural medicine, comparative linguistics, and African languages. He graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Cologne, Germany, with a dissertation about charismatic movements. He taught as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Anthropology in Cologne, Germany. In 1977 to 1978 he performed field research among the Yebámasa Indians of the middle Rio Piraparaná in the Comisaría del Vaupés in Colombia, South America, focusing on the sociocultural dimension of the consumption of hallucinogenic drugs in the native population. In 1989, he obtained the post-doctoral degree of “Habilitation”.
In 1979, he left the academic world and accepted the position of Export Sales Manager with a valve manufacturing company in Germany. He quickly rose to become the company’s CEO. In 1983 he became the CEO of the US branch of the German gun manufacturer Heckler & Koch. In 1992, he started his own business launching the German biodegradable gun oil Ballistol in the United States market, as the CEO of the Washington Trading Company, Inc. In 1995, he sold his shares and went to work for M. Braun, a German manufacturer of mini-micro-environments, as the CEO of the United States branch. In 1997, he worked for the translation company Heitmann of America, Inc. as its CEO. From 1999 to 2001, he was the National Commercial Sales Manager of the Glock Firearms Company. In 2001, together with a partner, he founded Apex Translations, Inc. in Plymouth, North Carolina, as an Indiana C-type corporation, from which he retired in 2020. He still maintains 50% of the company’s shares and functions as its ISO Compliance Manager.
Dr. Deltgen speaks six languages fluently, and six more languages less fluently. He has published several scientific books and articles in English, Spanish, and German. His hobbies are motorcycle riding, hunting, fishing, boating, and shooting.