Germaine Brée | |
|---|---|
 Brée in April 1985 | |
| Born | (1907-10-02)2 October 1907 Paris, France |
| Died | 22 September 2001(2001-09-22) (aged 93) |
| Citizenship |
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| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Literary studies |
| Sub-discipline | 20th-century French literature |
| Institutions | |
Germaine Brée (/ʒərˈmeɪnbreɪ/zher-MAYNBRAY; 2 October 1907 – 22 September 2001) was a French-American literary scholar, who wrote extensively onMarcel Proust,Andre Gide,Albert Camus, andJean-Paul Sartre.[1]
Born inParis, Germaine Brée grew up in the English-speakingChannel Islands. After graduating from the University of Paris,[2] she taught inAlgeria from 1932 to 1936. Appointed to teach atBryn Mawr in 1936,[3] she was caught abroad whenWorld War II began in 1939. She joined the Rochambeau Group, a volunteer ambulance unit organized in New York, later known as theRochambelles. The ambulance group, taken into the Free French forces, became the first women's unit integrated in the French Army, joining the Second Armored Division of General Leclerc in Morocco in October 1943. Two months later, with the death of her mother, she left the ambulance group and was assigned to the intelligence section of the Free French in Algiers. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant, she received aBronze Star and was named to theLegion of Honor. At this time Brée befriendedAlbert Camus.[2]
In 1952, Brée gained herAmerican citizenship.[4] The following year, Brée was appointed chair of the French department atNew York University College of Arts & Science, the second woman to be appointed a department chair at the university.[2] From 1960 until 1973 she was Professor of French at theUniversity of Wisconsin.[3] From 1973 until 1984 she was Kenan professor of humanities atWake Forest University.[2] In 1975 she served as president of theModern Language Association.[3] She was an elected member of both theAmerican Philosophical Society and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[5][6]
Brée died in her home inWinston-Salem,North Carolina on 22 September 2001 at the age of 93.[4]
