Brombert, Victor Henri (32906913): Difference between revisions

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After Germany's surrender he worked as an interpreter and interrogator on denazification in Germany. He found Germans reluctant to denounce one another. Occupation authorities sometimes left Nazi officials in place to keep cities running, a compromise he later described with frustration. He also saw displaced-persons camps: German refugees from the east, and Jewish survivors who returned to find their houses occupied, some of them shot at when they tried to reclaim a home. He left the Army at the end of 1946.

Brombert studied at Yale University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1948 and a doctorate in 1953, and ~~taught there before moving~~ to Princeton ~~in 1975~~ as Henry Putnam University Professor. He ~~married~~ the ~~translator Beth Archer~~ in ~~1950~~. For decades he kept wartime service out of the classroom—he was supposed to talk about Stendhal, he later said, not about the war—and students learned of it only years afterward, ~~when~~ he ~~appeared~~ on ''60 Minutes''. His memoir ''Trains of Thought'' appeared in 2002. He died at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, on 26 November 2024.

Brombert studied at Yale University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1948 and a doctorate in Romance languages and literatures in 1953; a Fulbright fellowship in Rome in 1950–51 added Italian to his languages. He married the translator and biographer Beth Archer in 1950. He joined Yale's Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, chaired it from 1964 to 1973, and was named Benjamin F. Barge Professor in 1968. In 1975 he moved to Princeton as Henry Putnam University Professor in comparative literature and Romance languages, where he also directed the Christian Gauss Seminars in Criticism and chaired the Council of the Humanities; he became emeritus in 1999. He taught as a visiting professor at universities including Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, and the Collège de France, and served as president of the Modern Language Association in 1988–89. His honors included two Guggenheim fellowships, election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1974) and the American Philosophical Society (1987), Yale's Wilbur Cross Medal (1985), and appointment as Commandeur des Palmes Académiques (2008) and Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (2009). For decades he kept wartime service out of the classroom—he was supposed to talk about Stendhal, he later said, not about the war—and students learned of it only years afterward; in 2021, at 97, he was among the surviving Ritchie Boys featured on ''60 Minutes''. His memoir ''Trains of Thought'' appeared in 2002. He died at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, on 26 November 2024, at the age of 101.

== Research notes ==

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* 1948 — Bachelor's degree, Yale University.

* 1950 — Married Beth Archer.

* 1950–1951 — Fulbright fellowship in Rome.

* 1953 — Doctorate in Romance languages and literatures, Yale.

* 1964–1973 — Chaired Yale's Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.

* 1975 — Appointed Henry Putnam University Professor at Princeton.

* 1988 — 1989 President of the Modern Language Association.

* 1999 — Entered emeritus status at Princeton.

* 2002 — Published the memoir Trains of Thought.

* 2009 — Named Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

* 26 November 2024 — Died in Princeton, New Jersey.

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 After Germany's surrender he worked as an interpreter and interrogator on denazification in Germany. He found Germans reluctant to denounce one another. Occupation authorities sometimes left Nazi officials in place to keep cities running, a compromise he later described with frustration. He also saw displaced-persons camps: German refugees from the east, and Jewish survivors who returned to find their houses occupied, some of them shot at when they tried to reclaim a home. He left the Army at the end of 1946.
-Brombert studied at Yale University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1948 and a doctorate in 1953, and taught there before moving to Princeton in 1975 as Henry Putnam University Professor. He married the translator Beth Archer in 1950. For decades he kept wartime service out of the classroom—he was supposed to talk about Stendhal, he later said, not about the war—and students learned of it only years afterward, when he appeared on ''60 Minutes''. His memoir ''Trains of Thought'' appeared in 2002. He died at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, on 26 November 2024.
+Brombert studied at Yale University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1948 and a doctorate in Romance languages and literatures in 1953; a Fulbright fellowship in Rome in 1950–51 added Italian to his languages. He married the translator and biographer Beth Archer in 1950. He joined Yale's Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, chaired it from 1964 to 1973, and was named Benjamin F. Barge Professor in 1968. In 1975 he moved to Princeton as Henry Putnam University Professor in comparative literature and Romance languages, where he also directed the Christian Gauss Seminars in Criticism and chaired the Council of the Humanities; he became emeritus in 1999. He taught as a visiting professor at universities including Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, and the Collège de France, and served as president of the Modern Language Association in 1988–89. His honors included two Guggenheim fellowships, election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1974) and the American Philosophical Society (1987), Yale's Wilbur Cross Medal (1985), and appointment as Commandeur des Palmes Académiques (2008) and Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (2009). For decades he kept wartime service out of the classroom—he was supposed to talk about Stendhal, he later said, not about the war—and students learned of it only years afterward; in 2021, at 97, he was among the surviving Ritchie Boys featured on ''60 Minutes''. His memoir ''Trains of Thought'' appeared in 2002. He died at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, on 26 November 2024, at the age of 101.
 == Research notes ==
@@ Line 147: / Line 147: @@
 * 1948 — Bachelor's degree, Yale University.
 * 1950 — Married Beth Archer.
+* 1950–1951 — Fulbright fellowship in Rome.
 * 1953 — Doctorate in Romance languages and literatures, Yale.
+* 1964–1973 — Chaired Yale's Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.
 * 1975 — Appointed Henry Putnam University Professor at Princeton.
+* 1988 — 1989 President of the Modern Language Association.
 * 1999 — Entered emeritus status at Princeton.
 * 2002 — Published the memoir Trains of Thought.
+* 2009 — Named Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.
 * 26 November 2024 — Died in Princeton, New Jersey.
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