Theodore Ziolkowski

Theodore Ziolkowski
Born
Theodore J. Ziolkowski

(1932-09-30)September 30, 1932
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
DiedDecember 5, 2020(2020-12-05) (aged 88)
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationEducator
Spouse
Yetta Goldstein
​
(m. 1951)​
Children2, including Jan
AwardsJames Russell Lowell Prize
Henry Allen Moe Prize
Academic background
Education
Academic work
Discipline
Institutions
Dean of
Princeton University Graduate School
In office
1979–1992
Preceded byNina Garsoïan
Succeeded byAlbert J. Raboteau

Theodore Ziolkowski (September 30, 1932 – December 5, 2020) was a scholar in the fields of German studies and comparative literature. He coined the term "fifth gospel genre".

Early life

Theodore J. Ziolkowski was born on September 30, 1932, in Birmingham, Alabama, to Cecilia (née Jankowski) and Mieczysław Ziółkowski, second-generation and first-generation Polish immigrants to the United States. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University in 1951, a Master of Arts from Duke University in 1952 and, following studies at the University of Innsbruck on a Fulbright Fellowship, his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1957.[citation needed]

Personal life

Ziolkowski married Yetta Goldstein in 1951. Together they had two sons, Jan and Eric.

Career

The connection of literature, religion, and law constituted his work. Following appointments at Yale University and Columbia University, he was called to Princeton University as professor of German in 1964. In 1969, he was appointed Class of 1900 Professor of German and Comparative Literature and, from 1979 to 1992, Dean of the Graduate School. From 2001 to his death, he was professor emeritus. A past president of the Modern Language Association (1985) and visiting professor at several universities (Yale University, City University of New York, Rutgers University, the University of Bristol, LMU Munich, Leuphana University of Lüneburg), he received many awards for his books and honors in the United States and abroad, including the Goethe-Medaille of the Goethe-Institut, the Jacob-und-Wilhelm Grimm Preis (DAAD), the Forschungspreis of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Bundesverdienstkreuz (1. Klasse) of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the D.Phil.h.c. from the University of Greifswald.

He was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also a corresponding member of the Austrian Akademie der Wissenschaften, the Göttingen Akademie der Wissenschaften, and the Deutsche Akademie fur Sprache und Dichtung.

Awards

He received the James Russell Lowell Prize and the Henry Allen Moe Prize in the Humanities of the American Philosophical Society.

Death

Ziolkowski died in Kirkland Village, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on December 5, 2020.

Works

Notes