Gerard Defaux, May 9, 1937-December 31, 2004

It is with great sadness that I write to say that Gérard Defaux, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at JHU since 1981, died in Paris on December 31, 2004.

He succumbed to a brain tumor that was diagnosed last February. A lifelong athlete, it was typical of his dedication to sports—although ironic in the extreme—that the day the tumor first manifested itself, he had cycled for thirty miles early in the morning.

Quintessentially French, though proud of his American citizenship, Gérard embodied the best in each of the two educational systems he served. He was a passionate teacher who inspired generations of undergraduate and graduate students alike. His devotion to teaching did not for a moment prevent him from pursuing his career as a scholar. On the contrary, he managed to make each serve the other. As a result, he published some twenty-five scholarly books and critical editions (eighteen of them since 1992), in addition to well over one hundred articles. Always one to relish a good intellectual donnybrook, Gérard also wrote review essays that were the antithesis of the bland book reports so frequently encountered in scholarly journals.

Born and raised in Paris, Gérard also studied at prestigious Parisian academies: the Lycée Henri IV (across the rue St. Jacques from the Sorbonne), and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Saint-Cloud. A passionate student of Renaissance literature, Gérard did his doctoral work at the Sorbonne on François Rabelais and the Sophists under the direction of the most eminent sixteenth century scholar of the period, V.-L. Saulnier.

Immediately upon receiving his doctorate, he came to North America, teaching for two years as assistant professor from 1967-69 at Trent College in Peterborough, Ontario, then, from 1969-79, at Bryn Mawr College where he was promoted to Full Professor. From 1979-81, he was professor of French at Yale University, which he left to begin his career at Hopkins. As befits a scholar of his stature, Gérard received many fellowships and awards, including Guggenheim and ACLS fellowships. The French government awarded him the Palmes Académiques and, in 1999, made him a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres. And, of course, he lectured widely in North America and Europe.

The funeral will take place at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris on Friday, January 7. A memorial service will be held on the Homewood campus on February 23, and a one-day colloquium in Gérard Defaux's honor will take place on March 4, also here at Homewood.