UPDATE: Yale University’s Krystyna Lipińska Iłłakowicz offers her thoughts on Prof. Gerould’s passing at the culture.pl Web site here.
The Polish Cultural Institute here in New York published this remembrance.
Playbill‘s obituary, written by Robert Simonson and published on 16 February, is available here.
Yesterday brought news of the recent death of Daniel Gerould, Lucille Lortel Distinguished Professor of Theatre and Comparative Literature in the Ph.D. Program in Theatre at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Prof. Gerould also held the posts of Director of Academic Affairs and Director of Publications at the CUNY Graduate Center’s Martin E. Segal Theatre Center.
Prof. Gerould was perhaps singlehandedly responsible for bringing American attention to the great achievements of Central and Eastern European drama and theatre of the twentieth century. With his writing on Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz and other revolutionary dramatists of the region, he revealed the unique incendiary qualities of this work from the center of Europe. He also focused spotlights on American melodrama and the plays of Maurice Maeterlinck. It was, though, in his advocacy for Polish drama that he had the greatest influence, and were it not for his academic rigor and continuing enthusiasm for these plays, American stages would be far poorer.
I knew Prof. Gerould only slightly, and never in the classroom, but what struck me most about him was his consistent and constant good cheer, his encyclopedic knowledge of world theatre (which he carried with delightful ease), his modesty and gentleness, and his always impeccable manners. He was among the last of a disappearing breed of gentlemen scholars, and to spend time in his company was a pure pleasure. Though the American academic study of Central European drama is eternally in debt to him for his unceasing work and enthusiasm, we are all in debt to him for his example.
His Web page at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center’s site details only a few of his many accomplishments. His most recent book, Quick Change, was published last year and collects several of his essays, including those on erotic French puppetry, the Grand Guignol, Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, and of course his beloved Central European theatre. I will post links to other obituaries and remembrances as they appear.
You say you knew Dr. Gerould only slightly, but you capture him incredibly well in your description here. He was indeed a “gentleman scholar,” and while he did carry his encyclopedic knowledge effortlessly, as you suggest, he was an intensely challenging professor, often inciting class discussions with very exacting questions. I will always remember his wisdom, sincerity, and the charming smile he wore above his bowtie–a smile that easily slid into a sinister grin whenever you mentioned any of his hotbutton passions you cite here (puppets, the grotesque, Kantor…).
Thank you for this elegant and thoughtful tribute to a man who touched the lives of so many young scholars, artists, and theatre enthusiasts. As a student of Professor Gerould, I was privileged to experience first hand not only his wealth of knowledge and love of his craft, but also his essential kindess, warmth, and sincerity. For those of us who learned from him and are now educators of our own, let us continue his legacy by giving our students the generous mentorship he gave to us. Let us introduce next generations to his work and pass on his giving spirit and genuine love of performance.
I was deeply saddened by the news of the death of Daniel Gerould, a colleague with whom I served on the Board of the Directors of the Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America (PIASA) and on the Editorial Board of “The Polish Review” from the mid 1970′s to the mid 1990′s. He was an active member of PIASA who did much to advance knowledge about Poland’s culture especially its theatre and literature to our pluralistic American society . I recall especially the special double issue of “The Polish Review” Vol. 18, No. 1-2, 1973 which he edited and was devoted to Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. That special issue contained fourteen articles on Witkacy including one by Gerould “Witkacy’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”
PIASA was proud to have him as its member. He will long be remembered.
Thaddeus V. Gromada, former Secretary General (1971-1990) Exec. Director (1991-2011) President (2008-2011) of PIASA; Professor Emeritus of European History , New Jersey City University.
Daniel was indeed a gentlemen scholar, one above the cliques of the academic mill. His praise of my book on Bruno Schulz was erudite and warmly generous to a stranger who alas never had the pleasure of meeting him. His work on Polish and Belgian cultures was individual and if necessary against the grain of academia, but his position was unassailable and its own imprimatur. My thoughts go to his widow, Jadwiga, who with her husband formed the finest and most original team of translators of Polish literature. Their work is a rich legacy for generations to come.
Today Professor Paul Allain told me that Professor Daniel Gerould had died recently.
For a number of years during the Nineties as an editor at Harwood Academic Publishers I had the great pleasure of working with Daniel on the Polish Theatre Archive, which he edited. I learned much from him about Polish and other Central European theatre, and we delighted in sharing a healthy disregard for ‘decon’ jargon, so prevalent in academia at the time.
Our aims were first and foremost to provide the most lucid introductions to otherwise little-known and unjustly neglected work, in the best possible translations. My sympathy goes out to Jadwiga, always at his side, and so active in this publishing collaboration, a really exciting venture and achievement, led by Daniel. May others be inspired to continue this work in this way!
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