Background
Gustave William was born on September 17, 1918, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, the son of William Andrian and Alexandra Perakos.
Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, United States.
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Gustave William was born on September 17, 1918, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, the son of William Andrian and Alexandra Perakos.
Gus attended Bulkeley High School in Hartford and then graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity in 1940. He entered the Ph.D program in modern languages at Johns Hopkins.
While studying at Johns Hopkins, Gustave W. Andrian taught courses in Spanish and French in the undergraduate college and also in the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Maryland. He returned to Trinity in 1946 as an assistant professor. From 1953 he was an associate professor. He was promoted to full professor in 1962. From 1980 he was John C. McCook professor of modern languages.
A prolific author and lecturer, his book, Modern Spanish Prose and Poetry, first published in 1964, and now in its seventh edition, continues to be used in hundreds of schools and universities across the country.
Gustave W. Andrian was a member of Modem Language Association of America, American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, American Association of University Professors.
The depths of his humanity matched Gus’s devotion to the life of the mind. Compassion, humility, generosity, warmth and empathy characterized his interactions with others, whether they were immediate or extended family members, students (many of whom continue to honor his teaching).
Gustave W. Andrian married Margaret Anne Penfield on August 18. 1951. Their children: Robert, Barbara, William. After raising their own three children, Bobby, Barrie and Billy, he and his beloved wife of 66 years, Peggy, helped to raise her sister Laura Heimberg’s two sons, Jason and Justin, then of Rockville, Maryland. Gus and Peggy were also prideful and devoted grandparents to Billy and his wife Trish’s children, Liam and Elizabeth of Glastonbury.