Cyrus Hamlin (1936 – January 19, 2011) was a

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

professor emeritus who is well-recognized for his contributions to the study of European Romanticism and literary theory.

Early life

Hamlin was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

and attended Phillips Exeter and Harvard College, where he graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

. He was a descendant of Cyrus Hamlin (general).

Academic career

His lengthy academic career began at Yale, where he earned his doctorate in 1963. At the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, he taught English and comparative literature for twelve years before returning to Yale in 1982, where he became an honorary member of Manuscript Society. Hamlin was an accomplished lecturer and visiting professor in a great many universities, including

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, the Free University in Berlin, and the Universities of

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and

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. His teaching focus was on

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, but it also covered many other literary forms and theories; among them were

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and Brecht's theater and

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

Biblical literature A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning ' rule' or ' measuring stick'. The use ...

, and Classical Greek literature. He retired from teaching in 2006. Hamlin held quite a few administrative appointments, ranging from chairing the graduate program in comparative literature at the

to directing the Special Programs in the Humanities to chairing committees for language studies and theater studies at Yale College. He was the co-founder of the undergraduate Program in Literary Studies, and served as president of the Elizabethan Club and the Manuscript Society, chair of the board of Jonathan Edwards Trust, and a member of the Beinecke Library Faculty Advisory Committee. In addition, he held the role of coordinator and moderator for the Stage-Talk Forums at Long Wharf Theater. Early publications of his focused on the poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin, on Goethe's "Faust" and on the poetics of European Romanticism. Hamlin was the general editor of the Suhrkamp edition of Goethe in English in 12 volumes, and the editor with commentary of the Norton Critical Edition of Goethe's "Faust." His essays on the poetics of Romanticism are collected in a volume titled "Hermeneutics of Form" (1998), and most recently he co-edited "Symbolic Forms and Cultural Studies: Ernst Cassirer's Theory of Culture." As a passionate Wagnerian, he also wrote and lectured widely on Wagner's operas. Among his other projects were conducting a study of major cultural institutions founded in Berlin from 1810 to 1830, and writing a series of essays on the Bible as literature.

Death

He died on January 19, 2011. A memorial service was held in Yale's Battell Chapel on February 19, 2011. In the summer of 2012, his ashes were buried in Somesville, Maine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamlin, Cyrus 1936 births 2011 deaths Harvard University alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Yale University alumni Yale University faculty Academic staff of the University of Toronto Goethe scholars