The Society for Emblem Studies

Memorial

Dan Russell

dan_russellDear Lila, dear friends and colleagues of Dan,

It is with immense sadness that we learned that Daniel Russell, our dear friend, mentor, colleague, and founding member of the “Society for Emblem Studies”, has died after his long illness. Ever generous with his time and insights, we have all been profoundly influenced by his scholarship through his writings or in person, and many of us will deeply miss and treasure his friendship. We owe him so much, and we have been very lucky indeed to have known and worked with him.

We all value Dan for his establishing our discipline through the Society, the journal, and through his hosting of and frequent participation in conferences and publications. He has been a pillar of the discipline and we all have much to thank him for. He will fondly be remembered for his unstinting generosity to his colleagues, path-breaking research, and good will.

Dear Lila, please accept our heartfelt condolences and sympathy. We know that you had a very hard time. You were a big part of his work and we fondly remember you from our meetings over the years. We extend our condolences to you, his son Nicholas who follows as a scholar of French Renaissance literature, and his daughter, Alison.

 

We all have lost a friend.

 

Ingrid Hoepel, Chair
in the name of the Society for Emblem Studies

20160517_131330

 

2 Responses to “Dan Russell”

  1. Rubem Amaral Jr.

    Dan Russell’s death is really a great loss for the emblem studies’ community. His classical book “The Emblem and Device in France”, my copy of which contains his manuscrIpt dedication to Virginia Callahan dated 9.XII.85, was one of my first readings on emblems. Unfortunately, the only occasion I met him in person was at the SES La Coruña conference, but I could profit considerably from his many other works on the subject. My sincere condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and to the SES membership as a whole.

  2. Stephen Rawles and Alison Adams

    Dan’s contribution to scholarship is well charted. And for many scholars he has not been a physical presence at conferences for a while. We feel very privileged to have been able to maintain personal contact, both by visiting Lila and him in Pittsburgh, and through Skype calls, usually heavily biased towards bibliophilic discussion. The joy he took in producing volumes from his prodigious collection was wonderful to behold! Indeed Lila would often send a preliminary message indicating that Dan had a new book which he wanted to show us. And, if we had a new book to show him, in a spirit of friendly rivalry he might well have his own copy of the same book ready for comparative purposes! When the Barton Court emblem books came up for sale, we made sure Glasgow University Library would not be in competition with him.

    Dan typifies the kind of international academic friendship which have particularly characterised emblem studies, and which we hope will continue.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.