Germaine Bree attended Paris-Sorbonne University, where she studied English. She presented her thesis on Henry James at the end of her studies in 1932.
Gallery of Germaine Bree
1932
101 N Merion Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, United States
Germaine Bree spent a year as an exchange student at Bryn Mawr College.
Germaine Bree attended Paris-Sorbonne University, where she studied English. She presented her thesis on Henry James at the end of her studies in 1932.
Germaine Bree was an internationally renowned educator and author, who specialized in the 20th Century modern French literature. She was credited for helping to introduce American readers to modern French writers. Her most famous book was her critical biography Camus, among others are An Age of Fiction: the French novel from Gidé to Camus, Marcel Proust, André Gide, Twentieth Century French Literature, and Camus and Sartre: Crisis and Commitment.
Background
Germaine Bree was born on the 2nd of October, 1907 in Lasalle, France; the daughter of Walter and Lois Marguerite (Andrault) Bree. She spent the early years of her childhood in the British Channel Islands before returning to France with her family in 1922.
Education
Germaine Bree attended Paris-Sorbonne University, where she studied English. She presented her thesis on Henry James at the end of her studies in 1932. She also spent a year as an exchange student at Bryn Mawr College.
As a prominent scholar, Bree received a Doctor of Literature degrees from a number of universities and colleges, including Smith College and Wilson College in 1960, Mount Holyoke College and Allegheny College in 1963, Duke University and Colby College in 1964, Middlebury College in 1965, Oberlin College in 1966, Dickinson University in 1968, Rutgers University in 1969, Wake Forest University in 1970, Brown University and University of Michigan in 1971, Davis-Elkins College in 1972, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in 1973, New York University in 1975, University of Massachusetts in 1976, Kalamazoo College in 1977, Washington University in 1978, University of the South and Boston College in 1979, University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981.
At the beginning of her career, Germaine Bree taught in Algeria from 1932-1936. In 1936, she joined Bryn Mawr College, where she lectured until 1953. She also spent several summers teaching at Middlebury College summer language schools in 1937, 1940, 1941 and 1946.
When World War II began, Bree took a sabbatical from teaching and voluntarily joined the French Army. She served with the French Army from 1943-1945. She drove an ambulance, headed a hospital ward, and did intelligence work for the French Resistance in Algiers and France. She also spent some time in the French Intelligence Service and was promoted to the first lieutenant.
After the war, Germaine Bree would go on to teach at many institutions around the world. She became a United States citizen in 1952. The next year she was appointed Chairman of the French Department at New York University, holding the position until 1960. During her time as Chairman, she established the French House of NYU. From 1954 to 1960, she was Head of Romance language Department at New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science and from 1958 to 1960, she served as Head of Romance languages and Russian Department there.
In 1960 Germaine became the Vilas Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1973, she was named the Kenan Professor of Humanities at Wake Forest University, where she served until 1984.
Throughout her career, Germaine held several visiting professorships. In 1981, she served as a visiting professor at Ohio University. In 1983, she was Whitney Oates visiting professor at Princeton University. The same year, she was Bernhardt visiting professor at Williams College. Bree also worked at the American University in Cairo, Kings College, London University, University of California Berkeley, and Los Angeles University.
Bree was the author of numerous scholarly works. Her first work, Marcel Proust and Deliverance From Time was published in 1955. She also wrote, The French Novel from Gide to Camus in 1962, Camus and Sartre: Crisis and Commitment in 1972, and Variations on a Theme in 1973. In addition, she also edited and contributed to many other books on literary criticism.
Germaine Bree was a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, Modern Language Association, American Association of University Professors, Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists, American Association of Teachers of French, Société des Professeurs Français, American Philosophical Society, Alliance Française, National Council on the Humanities, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
National Endowment for the Humanities
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United States