Alexander Gode

Infobox Scientist
name = Alexander Gode
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caption = Alexander Gode (1906-1970)
birth_date = October 30, 1906
birth_place = Bremen, Germany
death_date = August 10, 1970
death_place = Mount Kisco, New York, United States
residence =
citizenship = American
nationality =
ethnicity =
field = Language
work_institutions = University of Chicago
Columbia University
alma_mater = Columbia University
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Alexander Gottfried Friedrich Gode-von-Aesch or simply Alexander Gode (October 30, 1906 in Bremen - August 10, 1970 in Mount Kisco, New York) was a German-American linguist, translator and the driving force behind the creation of the auxiliary language Interlingua.

Biography

Born to a German father and a Swiss mother, Gode studied at the University of Vienna and the University of Paris before leaving for the U.S. and becoming a citizen in 1927. He was an instructor at the University of Chicago as well as Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in Germanic Studies in 1939.

Alexander Gode died of cancer in hospital. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Johanna. Dr Gode is survived by two daughters from his first marriage, his second wife Alison, and their two children.

Interlingua

Gode was involved with the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA) from 1933 on, sporadically at first. In 1936 the IALA began development of a new international auxiliary language and in 1939 Gode was hired to assist in this work.

After André Martinet was brought in to head the research in 1946, the two men's views came into conflict as Gode thought that Martinet was trying to schematize the new language too much, conflating it with Occidental. Gode saw no need to invent a language, as a product of some a-priori design. Instead, he and the former director of research, Ezra Clark Stillman, wanted to record the "international vocabulary" that, in their view, already existed. This would be done – and was being done before Martinet – by systematically extracting and modifying words from the existing control languages in such a way that they could be seen as dialects of a common language, with their own specific peculiarities. When Martinet resigned in 1948 over a salary dispute, Gode took up leadership and got full reign in implementing this vision. The result was Interlingua, the dictionary and of which were published in 1951. [ [http://starter5.aitcom.net/interlinguaus/pakupaku/uploads//GodeManifestodeInterlingua.pdf Gode's Interlingua Manifesto] published in 1959]

In 1953, the role of IALA was assumed by the Interlingua Division of Science Service, and Gode became the division director. He would continue his involvement with Interlingua until his death by translating scientific and medical texts to Interlingua. He won awards for this from the American Medical Writers Association and the International Federation of Translators. [ [http://www.interlingua.com/historia/biographias/gode.htm A history of Interlingua in Interlingua] Union Mundial pro Interlingua]

American Translators Association

Gode was one of the founders and first president of the American Translators Association (1960-1963). In his honor, this organization awards the Alexander Gode Medal "for outstanding service to the translation and interpreting professions". [ [http://www.atanet.org/membership/honorsandawards_gode.php Alexander Gode Medal] American Translators Association website]

elected Publications

cholarly works

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
title = Natural Science in German Romanticism
publisher = Columbia University Press
series =
year = 1941
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
title = Portuguese at Sight
publisher = Thomas Y. Crowell Co
year = 1943
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
title = Interlingua English Dictionary
publisher = Storm Publishers
year = 1951
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
title = A Brief Grammar of Interlingua for Readers
publisher = Storm Publishers
year = 1951
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
title = Interlingua a Prima Vista
publisher = Storm Publishers
year = 1954
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
coauthors = Blair
others =
title = Interlingua: A Grammar of the International Language
publisher = Storm Publishers
year = 1955
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
title = French at Sight
publisher = Ungar Pub Co
year = 1962
doi =
isbn = 978-0804461818

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
title = Anthology of German Poetry Through the 19th Century
publisher = Ungar Pub Co
year = 1972
doi =
isbn = 978-0804462419

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
coauthors =
others =
title = Un Dozena de Breve Contos
publisher = Beekbergen
year = 1975
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
coauthors =
others =
title = Discussiones de Interlingua
publisher = Beekbergen
year = 1980
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
coauthors =
others =
title = Dece Contos
publisher = Beekbergen
year = 1983
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Gode
first = Alexander
authorlink =
coauthors = Kraus, Wright
title = Last Days of Mankind
publisher = Ungar Pub. Co
year = 2000
doi =
isbn = 978-0804463669

Translations

cite book
last = Giedion-Welcker
first = Carola
authorlink =
coauthors = Herder
others = Gode
title = Paul Klee
publisher = Viking Press
year = 1952
doi =
isbn =

cite book
last = Szczesny
first = Gerhard
authorlink =
coauthors =
others = Gode
title = The Case Against Bertold Brecht
publisher = Ungar Pub. Co
year = 1969
doi =
isbn = 0804428476

ee also

*American Translators Association
*Interlingua
*Language education
*Translation

References

External links

* [http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/findaids/ger107.htm Alexander Gode von Aesch Papers] - Biographical information, photographs, and correspondence collected by the University Library at Albany State University, New York
* [http://www.interlingua.com/historia/biographias/gode.htm Biographias - Alexander Gottfried Friedrich Gode-von Aesch] - Biography in Interlingua
* [http://www.amwa.org/default/history/newsletters/nov70.pdf November 1970 newsletter from the American Medical Writers Association] - Obituary (in PDF format)
* [http://www.interlingua.com/ Union Mundial pro Interlingua]

Persondata
NAME=Gode, Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Gode-von-Aesch, Alexander Gottfried Friedrich
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American linguist
DATE OF BIRTH=October 30, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH=Bremen, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=August 10, 1970
PLACE OF DEATH=Mount Kisco, New York USA