William B. Edgeron Obituary

[Ronald Feldstein]

On behalf of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures of
Indiana University, it is my sad duty to inform the scholarly community of
the passing of Professor William B. Edgerton, who died in Bloomington, on
Sunday, February 8, 2004, at the age of 89.

 Professor Edgerton played a major role not only in the Slavic
Department of Indiana University, but as a national and international
figure of great importance in the study of Slavic languages and
literatures.  He served eleven years as chair of the department during its
critical early years of building and consolidation (from 1958-65 and 1969-
73).

 One can best get a true sense of Edgerton’s long and highly
productive career by realizing that it consisted of three essential
components, at which he excelled and made his international reputation.
Firstly, one should mention his humanitarian service during World War II,
as a relief worker for the Society of Friends.  This first brought Edgerton
into contact with several Slavic languages, in the former Yugoslavia and in
Poland.  During this period, he was one of the people credited with
discovering evidence about children who were deported from their home
countries by Nazi Germany.

 Chronologically, the next major theme of Edgerton’s career was his
untiring work on behalf of Slavic studies. After changing his academic
focus from Romance languages to Slavic, and after his wartime experiences,
he received his Ph.D. in Russian literature, from Columbia University, in
1954. He taught at Penn State, the University of Michigan, and Columbia
University, before moving to Indiana University, in 1958. One can
immediately appreciate Edgerton’s importance in the field by noting that he
was a founder and the first president of the AAASS (American Association
for the Advancement of Slavic Studies), in addition to playing a similar
role on the Joint Committee on Slavic Studies of the ACLS and SSRC.  He
also helped found the Inter-University Committee on Travel Grants, the
forerunner of IREX.  From 1958-78, he chaired the American Committee of
Slavists and served as one of only two American delegates to the
International Committee of Slavists. Thus, it is clear that Edgerton played
a unique role in the establishment of many institutions which are taken for
granted today.

 Beyond Edgerton’s humanitarian service and major role in founding
many of the major Slavic scholarly organizations, his research can be
considered as the third major building block. He was the author of
important publications on Lev Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Leskov and used his
knowledge of Romance languages to write about Spanish and Portuguese
responses to these great Russian authors.

 In addition to observing Bill Edgerton’s great accomplishments in
the Slavic field, I would like to observe that he was a friendly and
helpful colleague, always pleasant and willing to offer his time and
assistance.  He liked to encourage his younger colleagues in their
scholarly pursuits and always displayed the good humor and smile that many
of us will forever remember about him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------