Terrence Des Pres

Terrence Des Pres was a Holocaust scholar.

Life

Terrence Des Pres was born in Effingham, Illinois and graduated from Southeast Missouri State College in 1962. He went on to complete graduate degrees in philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis. He spent time with John Nathan at Harvard University as Harvard Junior Fellows, where Des Pres was the society's sommelier and they formed a friendship.

He was married to Judith and had a son, Jean-Paul.

Work

Des Pres is most well known for his work on the Holocaust documented in: .

He was rejected from Princeton University's philosophy department in 1973. At Colgate University he taught "Literature of the Holocaust" and was the William Henry Crawshaw Chair in Literature. At Colgate, he spent time with writer Frederick Busch.

He wrote Praises and Dispraises, published posthumously in 1988, which dealt with poetry and its usefulness for survival.

Death

According to John Nathan's memoir, Des Pres committed suicide in 1987. Des Pres' death was ruled "accidental" by the Madison county medical examiners office, Madison, NY.

ee also

*List of Harvard Junior Fellows
*Carolyn Forché, who was influenced by Des Pres, and organized the "Genocide and Memory" conference in 1997, where Des Pres was remembered

Books authored

*The Survivor: An Anatomy of Life in the Death Camps. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. ISBN 0-19-501952-0
*PRAISES & DISPRAISES Poetry and Politics, the 20th Century. New York: Viking.

Sources

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0DA133DF93BA25752C1A961948260 Obituary]
*"Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere", John Nathan, New York: Free Press. 2008. pp. 125-126.
* [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19008358.html article on Des Pres by Frederick Busch]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE0DB173AF931A35753C1A96E948260 Book Review on Des Pres' Praises and Dispraises]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1739178,00.html Frederick Busch's obituary]
*http://www4.colgate.edu/scene/jan1997/despres.html
* [http://www4.colgate.edu/scene/sept2006/endowed.html Colgate University Crawshaw Chair]
* [http://www.interfaithfamily.com/relationships/travel/This_Land_Is_My_Land_but_Maybe_Not_Your_Land.shtml Jean-Paul Des Pres article mentioning his father]
* [http://www4.colgate.edu/scene/jan1997/despres.html "Genocide and Memory" conference]