In my mailbox this afternoon was a 5x7 card from the Office of the Provost, Indiana University. That puzzled me. What did they want? And when I turned that red-and-white card over, I recognized the name right away. Professor Henry Heyman Hermann Remak, one of my favorite professors in the Germanic Department, had died at the age of 92 on 12 February. His memoriam will be 3 October and an RSVP is requested.
Prof Remak was already an older man when I had him in the early 1980s, a soft-spoken, balding gentleman with a quiet voice but strong mind. What I remember about him was his easy-going personality, his effervescent smile and his optimism. He was approachable, and often had his students at his home for gatherings. He is the only professor I visited at his private home. I must admit that I figured he had long passed on since I graduated in 1983, as I'm sure so many other of my professors have.
His eulogy read
Henry came to the United States in 1936, age 20, on a Sigman Alpha Mu Scholarship.
In San Francisco, he encountered Ingrid Grunfeld, the woman he was to marry;
she had also been brought up in Berlin. Their union was predestined. Ingridʼs house
had been on Stülerstrasse, opposite a statue of Theodor Fontane, one of Henryʼs favorite
authors. Henry fell in love not only with his future wife, but with his adopted country.
He marveled at its energy, its sense of wonder, its enterprise; he particularly admired its
enlightened rationalism: “The Declaration of Independence,” he would say, “is the most
humane document ever to come out of a Revolution.”
In San Francisco, he encountered Ingrid Grunfeld, the woman he was to marry;
she had also been brought up in Berlin. Their union was predestined. Ingridʼs house
had been on Stülerstrasse, opposite a statue of Theodor Fontane, one of Henryʼs favorite
authors. Henry fell in love not only with his future wife, but with his adopted country.
He marveled at its energy, its sense of wonder, its enterprise; he particularly admired its
enlightened rationalism: “The Declaration of Independence,” he would say, “is the most
humane document ever to come out of a Revolution.”
Henry would earn degrees from the Université de Montpellier, Indiana
University, the University of Chicago, and the Université de Lille. He taught at Indiana
University until and beyond his retirement, and he had visiting stints at the University of
Wisconsin, the University of Pennsylvania; he was a Director of the Middlebury German
Summer School for four years.
University, the University of Chicago, and the Université de Lille. He taught at Indiana
University until and beyond his retirement, and he had visiting stints at the University of
Wisconsin, the University of Pennsylvania; he was a Director of the Middlebury German
Summer School for four years.
Another eulogy mentioned that Prof Remak loved to travel, loved to speak in several languages and love so many cultures. Perhaps he was my mentor even back then and I didn't know it.
I wish now I had gotten to know him better. I was never close to any of my professors; I found them all so inapproachable, but Prof Remak was one who could have broken that image I had of my mentors. He spoke and wrote fluent German, French and English, something I wish I could do. If I had had the courage I could have asked him for advice earlier in my life, and he would have gladly given it to me.
There were a few other professors I had in the French and German departments that impressed me, but most were business-like and stoic. (One French professor who specialized in Frech--Canadian literature, died a year after I had him, at the tender age of 53, from a viral infection.)
Not Prof Remak. He did so much for Indiana University, opened up peoples' minds to literature and culture. If it hadn't been for him I could say that otherwise the Germanic department at the time I was there was lackluster. Remak added the sunshine.
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