Emil Krebs, born in Lower Silesia, mastered over 60 languages. The autodidact used intermediary languages he already knew, in addition to German, to learn and deepen his understanding of a language. In 1893, the German Foreign Office sent him to China as an interpreter, where he remained until 1917. As the chief interpreter of the German Imperial Legation in Beijing, he earned a reputation as an outstanding authority in the field of Chinese law and the diversity of languages there. His most significant publication is the translation of "Chinese Shadow Plays" (1915, together with Wilhelm Grube). After returning to Berlin, he was employed in the language service of the Foreign Office to translate officially from over 40 languages. Krebs died on March 31, 1930, in Berlin. His private library, containing writings in over 100 languages, was acquired by the American National in 1932.