Jacques Barzun
Jacques Martin Barzun ( born November 30, 1907 in Créteil, near Paris; † 25 October 2012 in San Antonio) was an American historian and university professor. Even in old age he was considered a leading intellectuals in the fields of literature, education and culture.
Life
Barzun was born in France and in 1920 was sent for training in the United States. He spent his entire education at Columbia University in New York City, where he received his doctorate in 1932. He was a member of the " Philolexian Society ", a group of rhetoric and debate devoted to. Barzun taught from 1928 to 1955 at Columbia University, from 1935 as Seth Low Professor of History ( a professorship, which was clothed 1967-1997 by Barzuns student Fritz Stern ). During this time he was one of the founders of the discipline of cultural history. From 1955 to 1958 he was Dean of the Graduate School at Columbia University.
Barzun married Mariana Lowell in 1936, a violinist from Boston, with whom he has three children. After her death in 1979 he married in 1980 Marguerite Lee Davenport, the he held until his death in San Antonio, Texas, lived and worked.
Work
To Barzuns celebrity contributing factor was that he. With his colleague, the critic Lionel Trilling, the "Great Books " course taught at Columbia University This course took a total of four semesters; he treated the most important works and thinkers of Western civilization.
Among his most influential works include Darwin, Marx and Wagner ( 1941), Teacher in America ( 1945), The House of Intellect (1959 ), Classic, Romantic and Modern ( 1961) and Science: The Glorious Entertainment ( 1964). Even in retirement, he was active as a writer. One of his recent books, From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present (2000), was on the bestseller list of the New York Times. According to most historians, critics and newspapers, this book is considered a strong overview of the culture and civilization of the West. In addition, Barzun has published about 30 books, as well as numerous reviews and essays. He is also considered the expert on the works of Hector Berlioz.
The American Philosophical Society has Barzun with its most prestigious award recognized that they referred to as The Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History. Since 1993 the Society has awarded this prize for best cultural historian. 2003 Barzun was awarded the highest honor the U.S. for civilians, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him its Gold Medal for Criticism twice.