Hans Rüesch

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Hans Rüesch (born May 1913 in Naples) was a Swiss racing driver in the 1930s and after World War II, an activist against animal experiments and vivisection.

Born of an Italian mother and a Swiss father and raised in Italy, he was a wealthy private driver who began racing in 1932 with MG at the Klausenrennen aged 19. During the 1930s, he drove several Alfa Romeo and Maserati racing and sports cars at many smaller events all over Europe. Private Maserati 8CM 1934, Maserati 4CS 1935-36, private Alfa Romeo GP car 1936-37. He also took part in the 1937 South Africa series. He won 27 races including the 1936 British Grand Prix with Richard Seaman. During the early fifties, he was seen in a Ferrari 4.1-litre MM sports car.

He stopped racing after an accident to devote his time to writing several books including The Racer in 1953 that became the movie Such Men are Dangerous. He lives today in Switzerland, at age 92 and is the only winning Grand Prix driver of the golden era surviving.

[edit] Authors publications

• The Racer (1937)
• Top of the World (1950) (ISBN 999755602X)
• The Slaughter of the Innocent (1978) (ISBN 0961001607)
• The Naked Empress (1982) (ISBN 0961001607)
• South of the Heart / The Great Thirst
• The Stealers
• The Game
• Back to the Top of the World (ISBN 0345238842)