Avis de décès de Robert-Henry Elias - Nécrologie - MesAieux.com

ROBERT HENRY ELIAS ITHACA - Robert Henry Elias, husband, father, grandfather, teacher and Ithaca resident for many years, passed away August 16, 2008 at the age of 93. He was born in New York City on September 17, 1914, and spent his childhood in the city and nearby Westchester County. He attended Williams College, where he received his BA in 1936, Columbia University, where he received his MA in 1937, and then the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his doctorate in 1948. His doctoral thesis, a critical biography of the American writer Theodore Dreiser, was based on interviews with the writer and his friends and acquaintances, as well as Dreiser's voluminous papers, which Bob was responsible for organizing. The thesis, published in 1949 as "Theodore Dreiser: Apostle of Nature", was the acknowledged starting point for virtually all subsequent work on the writer. In 1945, he joined the faculty at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, as an instructor in the English department. At Cornell he met his wife, Helen. They were married Friday, June 13, 1947 - a choice of date that all those who knew them found entirely in character. Their four children, Jonathan, Abigail, Sara and Eben, were born and raised in Ithaca. Bob spent his professional career at Cornell, except for a one-year sabbatical spent at the University of Toulouse as a Fulbright-Hays Lecturer (1963-4). From 1959-1964 he was Ernest I. White Professor of American studies; he also chaired the American Studies inter-disciplinary committee during that period and was its acting chair from 1966 to 1967. He was Goldwin Smith Professor of English Literature and American Studies from 1968 until his retirement in 1980. He was the author or editor of several books and numerous articles, and was recognized as an authority on American history and literature of the early 20th century, but he is remembered especially as a kind and generous mentor of his younger colleagues and of his graduate students. His pioneering work on Dreiser has been recognized by the International Theodore Dreiser Society, which has established an essay prize in his memory. Following retirement, he and Helen moved to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where they had spent many summers with their children, friends and relatives. After 16 years on the Vineyard, Bob and Helen decided to "downsize" and moved off-island to the Cape, where they lived for a decade before moving to Brookline in 2007. They travelled often, exploring Italy and Great Britain many times, as well as Malta, North Cyprus, and Greece (including Corfu). They spent several seasons excavating Iron Age sites in Wales and one season on a Viking site on the Island of Gotland. They also traveled to Mexico, Peru, and Chile. Closer to home, they visited sites in the American Southwest and Midwest, and made frequent visits to children and grandchildren. At home, they studied Italian in order to join a group reading Dante in his original language and worked with groups providing tutoring in the community. In addition, both taught in the Nathan Mayhew seminars on the Vineyard for several years. Bob also participated in a documentary on Dreiser being prepared for television. He is survived by his wife, Helen; his sisters, Josephine and Catherine; his children, Jonathan, Abigail, Sara, and Eben; and nine grandchildren. We will all miss a man who was kind and gentle and active both intellectually and physically, whose sense of humor stayed with him to the end. Memorial donations may be made to the Cornell University Olin Library or the Cornell Plantations.