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Dear Members of the Colgate Community,
I write with the sad news that John Gallucci, professor of Romance Languages and Literatures passed away on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. His close colleague Hélène Julien, chair of the Department of Romance Languages, describes John as “a passionate and dedicated teacher who left at Colgate a legacy measured by the impact he had on the lives of students and the way he nurtured their intellectual and personal growth. His kindness, humility, and approachability made him a cherished friend and confidant to many of us.”
John was born in 1955 and grew up in Glens Falls, N.Y. Throughout his life, he immersed himself in languages and literature. Fernando Plata Parga, professor of Spanish, notes that “For John, like for the namesake evangelist, at the beginning was the word. He was a true philologist for whom language was the key to open up interpretation and thought. His passion for languages took him to learn, among others, Classical Greek, Latin, Italian, and of course French. Reading was his passion, no matter what language.”
John received his BA in 1977 from Williams College and received a Licence ès lettres from Strasbourg in 1979 and a Maitrise from Avignon in 1983. He received his MA in 1982 and his PhD in 1988 from Yale University. John began in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (ROLA) in 1986 and retired in June 2023.
Fred Chernoff, Harvey Picker Professor of International Relations, was at Yale with John and describes him “as a close and wonderful friend for most of my life — certainly one of the greatest strokes of good luck for me. We met on our first day in graduate school; we started our careers at Colgate on the same day; and we got our tenure letters at the same time in the same place. We had decided months before the annual tenure-announcement day that, however it should turn out, we’d celebrate or mourn together. I can’t imagine sharing that evening with anyone more fun than John.”
John taught a range of departmental courses, including seminars on the literature of the French Renaissance; New York/New France; and the court of Louis XIV. In addition to teaching courses in French language and literature, he taught Latin and was an active participant in the Core program. Robert Garland, Roy D. and Margaret B. Wooster Professor of the Classics emeritus, and a frequent contributor to the Core, notes that “John always struck me as a true intellectual, interested in the life of the mind for the sake of the life of the mind. I once received a note from him which included the words in Greek, Kalepa ta kala, ‘what is beautiful is hard to achieve/accomplish.’ They seem to sum up his attitude to life and to work. He was, I suspect, extremely self-critical, but a man of honor and complete integrity, nimble-witted and ‘charmant’ (in the fullest Gallic sense of that word), and unwaveringly devoted to our profession.”
John’s early scholarship focused on the writings of Blaise Pascal, the subject of essays that appeared in journals such as Dalhousie French Studies, French Forum, and Papers of French Seventeenth Century Literature. John’s background and work in early French literature and the Renaissance led him to discover the importance of the French and Latin languages for the understanding of the early history of central and upstate New York, which in turn led him to begin research on early French settlements in North America and the influence of French literature on American writers like Henry Adams. That work culminated in The Castorland Journal: The Exploration and Settlement of Northern New York by French Emigrés in the Years 1793–1797, which was published by Cornell University Press in 2010.
Joscelyn Godwin, professor of music emeritus, accompanied John on research trips for the book: “John and I shared many interests and opinions, especially on day trips while he was working on The Castorland Journal. We went up West Canada Creek and down the Black River, seeing Trenton Falls, Constable Hall, and Sackets Harbor; or in the other direction along the Mohawk towards his first and last homes. All this became more difficult after his illness and the move to Saratoga, and we never completed our program of tracking the French pioneers to their first view of the Great Lakes. On these trips, the talk was often of Europe, for we both felt deep roots there. But the advantages of life at Colgate were not lost on us, as we were both able to teach what we loved and to continue our own education beyond disciplinary boundaries.”
The intertwining of friendship and intellectual growth seems to have been a hallmark of John’s relationships. Not only did he continue his learning throughout his life, but he often sought companionship on his ongoing educational journey. “John was one of my true mentors at Colgate, always reminding me what a privilege it is to be a perpetual student and urging me to range across all the liberal arts, and I am going to miss him a lot,” writes Geoff Benson, associate professor of the Classics. “When I visited John in Saratoga for our annual trip to the races or when he graciously took me out for wonderful dinners in Rome and Naples during an Extended Study trip or when we chatted in our offices in Lawrence Hall between classes, I always learned something new from him. John's Latin was superlative, and he loved asking me questions about Latin syntax and stylistics. It was so inspiring to see one of our great French professors reading Latin for pleasure and enlightenment in his spare time and being totally absorbed by Virgil's use of the ablative case. John knew so much about drawing and painting and always encouraged my budding efforts to improve my drawing.”
Similarly, Bill Stull, associate professor of the Classics recalls, “I remember John as a wonderfully supportive friend and colleague. Never one to seek the spotlight for himself, he always showed a generous interest in others and was curious and well-informed about a surprising range of subjects. He taught intermediate Latin on a few occasions and regularly read Latin for pleasure; now and then I would receive emails from him, as he worked through a Cicero speech, asking about some fine point of syntax or style. He also had an infectious enthusiasm for, and expertise on, the history, culture, and geography of upstate N.Y.” Fernando Plata Parga recollects that “John was a man of many passions, among them, Colgate, French literature, European Humanism, and upstate N.Y. He was a friend who wanted to share his passion with his friends. An excursion with John in the area surrounding Hamilton was a trip to discover the geography and the history of the region that framed his life, a knowledge and a passion he was eager to share with friends.”
These many and varied passions informed his service at Colgate, which included the Colgate-Emory Collaboration in the Humanities, the Upstate Institute Advisory Board, membership in the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, and later on the President’s Planning Committee, as well as chairing the Department of Romance Languages.
“He was devoted to his students, and always did the maximum to fulfill every responsibility that Colgate handed him,” says Fred Chernoff. But “First and foremost, John was a sweet, kind, caring human being and, simply put, a truly great guy. Tied for first, John had the clearest, most unbiased, mature, and thoughtful judgment on nearly every issue we discussed over those many (but still too few) years. It made life so much better for me having the benefit of John's wisdom on so many matters. I greatly admired John’s endless curiosity — his interest in astronomy up there, and in thoroughly exploring his world down here. He was gifted as an artist and worked at it, studying and improving. He truly elevated the people who were lucky enough to know him.”
The qualities Fred Chernoff foregrounds become refrains that run through the commemorative notes from colleagues and friends: John as trusted friend, John as wise confidant. John as intellectually gifted, John as deeply curious. But equally, John as humble, John as gracious.
These last notes are struck in reminiscences from both Fernando and Georgia Frank, Charles A. Dana Professor of Religion. Fernando calls to mind the time that “a group of faculty came together to read Plato's Symposium with Drew Keller's undergraduate students, faculty whose research interests intersected with classical Greek and wanted to brush up on their linguistic skills — Georgia Frank, Jim Wetzel, Bob Kraynak, John and myself. John was clearly the most gifted student, everyone's favorite, as he read Greek with a fluency we all admired and envied.” Georgia corroborates, “John loved learning ancient languages. And it was infectious. When participating in Greek classes with faculty and students, he rendered philosophical Greek with elegance and precision. However much he outshone his rustier colleagues in the class, he always did so with utter kindness and humility. He was a star pupil who also taught classmates by his patient and stellar example. It came as little surprise to his colleagues who knew him that he would teach intermediate Latin courses from time to time.”
Naomi Rood, associate professor of the Classics, echoes these sentiments: “I co-directed with John a senior Honors Thesis on Laocoon in Vergil's Aeneid. I tried repeatedly to persuade him to teach beginning Greek with me, but he was too humble to agree to that.” Naomi goes on, “John made the world around him more bright and open, more interesting and inviting. Others have spoken to me about how unusually good, gentle, and sweet he was; someone never self-centered but only ever supportive, engaging, and decent. He was a quiet and rich treasure among us. It was always a treat to see John — a little special occasion — in which to take delight in his warmth and humor and be pleasantly surprised by his thoughtfulness and authenticity.”
This gentle kindness and this care for others were remarked upon also by John Naughton, Harrington and Shirley Drake Professor of the Humanities in the Department of Romance Languages emeritus: “John and I were very close friends for many years. John had deep reserves of kindness and generosity not everyone was aware of. He was a very sensitive and thoughtful person, but we also shared moments of laughter and fun together. I was often a guest at his place in Hamilton, where he would serve delightful pasta concoctions.”
Prior to his retirement, John established a home for himself in Saratoga Springs. Mahadevi Ramakrishnan, senior lecturer in French, recalls “John often shared his passion for every aspect of the Saratoga area from walks, to cafés to museums and most importantly the best-hidden source of mineral spring water in town that only a curious mind like John's would seek out. My husband and I had the honor to break bread with John at his condo in Saratoga Springs. The care and hospitality that he showed us was very touching. His minimalist condo was an eloquent expression of everything that John embodied. A mini-library, art museum, music studio, and culinary exhibit, encapsulated in a curated intellectual space.”
At his retirement, Hélène Julien, offered remarks that seem particularly apt right now as we remember John:
I could tell funny anecdotes about crafting bad jokes in Latin with John, or maybe it was good jokes in bad Latin. But now is, above all, the moment when we express our gratitude for the opportunity of having worked alongside such a wonderful colleague, some of us for decades, sharing a space and some passions with him, and benefitting from his wisdom.
John, you always managed to bring excitement to your classes, inspiring students to find lasting motivation for their own lives in the works of the past and discover deep truths that could sustain them for a lifetime. Your classrooms were indeed not merely venues for the exploration of older French texts, the intricacies of the Latin language, or the classics of Core 151; they were nurturing spaces where students felt seen, heard, and inspired. Your ability to foster a love for learning, ignite curiosity, and instill a thirst for knowledge is a testament to your extraordinary teaching abilities. The collaborative spirit with which you approached your research and brought to light the legacies of the Nouvelle France authors also set a shining example for us all. Your commitment to research and your thirst for knowledge, wrapped in kindness, humility, and approachability, have set the bar high for all who follow in your footsteps. Thank you, John, for all you have given us over the years.
John is survived by his siblings Patricia Welte and her husband Sandy and children William and Annalise; Regina Gallucci; Armen Gallucci and his wife Sara and children William and John; and James Gallucci. Many wonderful cousins and many very dear friends also survive him.
Funeral services to celebrate John’s life will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at the Church of the Messiah in Glens Falls, N.Y. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to Middlebury College’s ‘Osnif Serabian Gallucci MA ’47 Scholarship Fund’ that John set up to honor his mother for her Master’s in French from Middlebury College.
May John’s memory be a blessing.
Lesleigh
Lesleigh Cushing
Provost and Dean of the Faculty
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