The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures

In May 2009 our dear and esteemed colleague, Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor of German Alexander Stephan passed away. Alex had been battling brain cancer for several years. He died peacefully in his home in Schmöckwitz in the eastern part of Berlin, a city to whose culture and people he devoted so much of his work over the years; he is buried in nearby Grünau.

Alex joined our faculty in 2000; he divided his time between the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and the Mershon Center for International Securities Studies. In the Department we knew him as a beloved teacher, advisor and mentor, as an esteemed and learned colleague and friend, as a partner for scholarly exchange. As a fellow at the Center he found the time, space and intellectual environment to investigate his interest in US-German and, later, US-European cultural relations (including post-war Americanization and Anti-Americanism). Just this afternoon a student and I were reminiscing about Alex, his insights, his knowledge, his passion, his smile, his generosity, and his uncanny ability to bring people together. I think Alex understood people very well. I'll never forget a lunch I had with him soon after learning that I would be the new chair of the Department. Alex, a former chair himself, offered me wise advice, he jestingly consoled me in advance for tasks he knew would be difficult, he inspired me with confidence, and he reminded me how important it is to listen.

In his official announcement to the faculty, Dean John Roberts put it in a nutshell: "He was a brilliant scholar and a genuinely nice man." As our colleague Helen Fehervary pointed out—one can say the one or the other about many, however, both attributes are rarely found in one person. Alex, we shall miss you, ave atque vale.

Anna Grotans Chairperson

Alexander Stephan's bibliography [pdf]

A short biography of Alex' life by Helen Fehervary and Bernd Fischer, "Introduction." Kulturpolitik und Politik der Kultur / Cultural Politics and the Politics of Culture. Festschrfit für Alexander Stephan. Helen Fehervary and Bernd Fischer, eds. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007, 9-14 (German Life and Civilization, vol. 47).