Alice von Hildebrand | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alice Marie Jourdain (1923-03-11)11 March 1923 Brussels, Belgium |
| Died | 14 January 2022(2022-01-14) (aged 98) New Rochelle, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Philosopher, theologian, professor, author |
| Employer | Hunter College |
| Spouse | |
Alice Marie von Hildebrand,GCSG[1] (néeJourdain; 11 March 1923 – 14 January 2022) was a Belgian-born American Catholic philosopher, theologian, author, and professor. She taught philosophy atHunter College for 37 years. She was also the second wife ofDietrich von Hildebrand.
Von Hildebrand was bornAlice Marie Jourdain to Henri and Marthe (van der Horst) Jourdain inBrussels, Belgium, on 11 March 1923.[1][2][3] Herfirst language was French. She left her home country in 1940, shortly after it wasinvaded by Germany, and relocated to the United States as a refugee.[4] She initially attendedManhattanville College,[4] before studying philosophy atFordham University,[2] where she obtained a doctorate in 1949.[4]
Von Hildebrand struggled to find employment in academia. She was rejected by Catholic colleges, who informed her that they did not employ women to teach philosophy.[4] She eventually started teaching atHunter College – a constituent college of theCity University of New York – in 1947.[1] She utilized her maiden name due to the hostility endured by her husband. She only receivedacademic tenure after 14 years of teaching.[2] Despite being advised by the college president (and fellow Catholic) George N. Shuster that she would be more content teaching at a Catholic institution, she was of the opinion that it was essential for a Catholic to be present at a secular educational institution. She ultimately remained at Hunter College for 37 years. She attributed the conversion of many of her students to Catholicism with her teaching ofobjective truth.[4][5]
Von Hildebrand retired early in 1984,[1] having grown weary of being issued a teaching schedule that concluded at 10 pm.[2] She was subsequently conferred the Presidential Award for excellence in teaching by the college.[4][5] Von Hildebrand made more than 80 appearances onEWTN television programming.[1] She launched the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project in 2004 with some of her husband's former students.[1] Her works includeThe Soul of a Lion: The Life of Dietrich von Hildebrand (2000), a biography of her husband,[6] and her autobiography,Memoirs of a Happy Failure (2014), which recounts her escape fromNazi Europe and her teaching career at Hunter College.[7]
Von Hildebrand criticized what she considered to be the advance ofrelativism[7] andmodernism in the Catholic Church,[2] particularly within its institutions ofCatholic higher education and itsCatholic schools. Hildebrand held conservative Catholic views on homosexuality, saying that it "constitutes a grave offense to God and brings great moral harm to the persons engaging in it", and arguing that those with "homosexual tendencies" should practice celibacy.[8] She was also an outspoken critic of feminism.[9]
Von Hildebrand married Catholic philosopher and theologianDietrich von Hildebrand in 1959, two years after his first wife died. They first met at Fordham University, where she was a student and he was a professor. She later worked as his secretary and collaborated with him on authoring books,[1][2] such asThe Art of Living.[4] They did not have children together,[4] and remained married until his death in 1977.[10]
Von Hildebrand was created a Dame of Grand Cross of theOrder of Saint Gregory the Great, a papal order of knighthood, in October 2013.[11] She died on 14 January 2022 at her home inNew Rochelle, New York. She was 98, and suffered a brief illness[which?] prior to her death.[4][5]
