Jeffrey L. Sammons, Leavenworth Professor of German Literature Emeritus passed away on February 15, 2021, at the age of 84.
Professor Sammons joined the Yale German Department in 1964 and continued to serve on the faculty until retirement at the end of 2001. He was chairman of the Department of German, from 1969-77, 1988-91; and director of the Yale Summer Language Institute, 1980-84. Topics of his research include Heine, Young Germany and the Vormärz, literary sociology, nineteenth-century realists, especially Raabe and Spielhagen, and German fiction about America. Most recent book publications: Friedrich Spielhagen: Novelist of Germany’s False Dawn (2004), Heinrich Heine: Alternative Perspectives 1985-2005 (2006), and Kuno Francke’s Edition of The German Classics (1913-15): A Critical and Historical Overview (2009), as well as a translation with commentary: Heinrich Heine, Ludwig Börne: A Memorial (2006). Editor, North American Studies in Nineteenth-Century German Literature (43 vols.). Among his honors: Guggenheim Fellowship; American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship and travel grant; member, Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences; Humphrey Fellowship, Ben-Gurion University, Israel; Craig Distinguished Visiting Professor of German, Rutgers University.
Professor Sammons will be dearly missed by his colleagues and students.
Obituary published in the New Haven Register on February 17, 2021:
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nhregister/obituary.aspx?pid=197772700
Faculty Retirement Tribute, 2002:
Jeffrey L. Sammons | Faculty of Arts and Sciences (yale.edu)