November 1, 2002: Volume 56, Number 8

Memorial set for Professor Hans Freund

A memorial service for Prof. Hans Freund is planned for Saturday, Nov. 9, at 10 a.m. in Memorial Chapel.

The service will be followed by a reception in Everest Lounge.

Freund, the Edward E. Hale Jr. Professor of English Emeritus, died Aug. 24 at the age of 83.

He accepted a position in the English Department at Union in 1964. He retired in 1989.

A former dean of the faculty described him as "the true modern Renaissance man of Union," and his teaching was often hailed by students for the power, range, and intensity of his teaching. He taught a wide range of English courses that often explored the Western cultural heritage in breadth as well as depth, and he also enlightened students – both in and outside of the classroom -- in German, the classics, art, and religious studies.

Freund, who kept a small farm in Sprakers, west of Schenectady, frequently brought fruit and vegetables to his colleagues at Union.

He was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1919, leaving as a teenager when it became clear that he would not be able to attend a German university (the grandparents of his mother were Jews). He became an acting student in Vienna, Austria, and soon got a contract to play leading roles at the Reinhardt Theater. He came to America in 1939. After combining a variety of jobs with small roles in radio and in a play, he was drafted and served in the Army from 1943 to 1946.

After the war, he went to work to support his family still in Germany, but wrote two plays and continued to pursue a career in the theater. In 1951, eager to take some courses in English literature that might broaden his background in the language in which he had chosen to write, he entered Columbia University's School of General Studies. He received his B.A. and M.A., with an award for the best master's essay in English and comparative literature. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1971.

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