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{{Infobox person
<ref>[http://books.google.it/books?id=CzUfQBmlm0kC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=montale+clizia+le+occasioni&source=bl&ots=9RJgVofUfS&sig=eKGeDIA2lI9-E9WqiVgsaCK7yUc&hl=it&ei=W6uSStaYHNaEsAbqxPGlDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#v=onepage&q=&f=false Montale, Ungaretti, Saba: guida alla lettura] by Tommaso Testaverde, on books.google.it</ref>'''Irma Brandeis''' (1905-1990) was a Jewish-American scholar of [[Dante Alighieri]]. Her work ''The Ladder of Vision'' was acclaimed as a breakthrough in Dantean studies upon its publication in the 1960s.
| name = Irma Brandeis
| image = IrmaBrandeis1926.png
| alt = A young white woman with dark hair cut in a short bob with bangs
| caption = Irma Brandeis, from the 1926 yearbook of Barnard College
| birth_date = 1905
| death_date = 1990
| education = [[Barnard College]]
| occupation = [[Dante]] scholar
| employer = [[Bard College]]
}}

'''Irma Brandeis''' (1905–1990) was an American scholar of [[Dante Alighieri]]. Her work ''The Ladder of Vision'' was acclaimed as a breakthrough in Dantean studies upon its publication in the 1960s.

Brandeis graduated from [[Barnard College]] in 1926.<ref>Barnard College, ''[https://digitalcollections.barnard.edu/object/yearbook-1926/mortarboard-1926#page/182/mode/2up Mortarboard]'' (1926 yearbook): 176.</ref> In her visits to [[Italy]] between 1933 and 1939 Brandeis became acquainted with the poet [[Eugenio Montale]] and was the inspiration for the metaphysical figure "Clizia" in his poetry, a coded [[senhal]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.italica.rai.it/scheda.php?scheda=montale_clizia |title=italica.rai.it |access-date=2011-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315153138/http://www.italica.rai.it/scheda.php?scheda=montale_clizia |archive-date=2012-03-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>a "senhal" is a pseudonym used in [[troubadour]] tradition as a coded mode of address, usually for a woman</ref> particularly prominent in his second book, ''Le Occasioni'' (The Occasions).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CzUfQBmlm0kC&dq=montale+clizia+le+occasioni&pg=PA60 Montale, Ungaretti, Saba: guida alla lettura] by Tommaso Testaverde, on books.google.it</ref> The love story is narrated in Montale's posthumous book ''Lettere a Clizia'' (A. Mondadori, Milan 2006). Despite significant coverage in the literary press of the 1980s of her "Clizia" identity, Brandeis declined to clarify the nature of her relationship to Montale or discuss her possible significance in his work (particularly in poems she had helped translate).<ref name=CliziaMosca>See (for example) this article by John Ahern: [https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/23/books/between-the-love-of-clizia-and-mosca.html Between the Love of Clizia and Mosca], ''New York Times'', 23 February 1986. Accessed 26 May 2013.</ref>

Brandeis was also a close friend of the poet [[James Merrill]], who funded in her memory the Irma Brandeis Professorship of Romance Cultures and Literature at [[Bard College]] (where Brandeis taught from 1944 until her semi-retirement in 1979).<ref name=NYTimesObit>New York Times. [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/31/obituaries/irma-brandeis-professor-84.html Irma Brandeis, Professor, 84], 31 January 1990. Accessed 26 May 2013.</ref> Merrill wrote in his 1993 memoir ''A Different Person'' about his unsuccessful efforts to encourage reconciliation between Brandeis and Montale late in life.<ref name=Merrill1/> In a memorial tribute to Brandeis (not published until 2004), Merrill wrote of contacting Brandeis through a [[Ouija board]] after her death, and finding her happily reunited "in a manner of speaking" with Montale.<ref name="Merrill1">Merrill, James. ''A Different Person.'' New York: Knopf, 1993, Chapter XIV; quoted in Merrill, James. ''Collected Prose''. New York: Knopf, 2004, pp. 604-607.</ref><ref name=Merrill2>Merrill, James. "A Memorial Tribute to Irma Brandeis," published in ''Collected Prose'', pp. 369-370.</ref>

[[Supreme Court Justice|United States Supreme Court Justice]] [[Louis Brandeis]] was the second cousin of Brandeis' father.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ahern |first=John |date=1986-02-23 |title=BETWEEN THE LOVE OF CLIZIA AND MOSCA |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/23/books/between-the-love-of-clizia-and-mosca.html |access-date=2022-07-14 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cary |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJ-GL_WfdHgC&pg=PA329 |title=Three Modern Italian Poets: Saba, Ungaretti, Montale |date=1993-10-16 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-09527-1 |language=en}}</ref>


In her visits to [[Italy]] between 1933 and 1939 Brandeis became acquainted with the poet [[Eugenio Montale]] and was the inspiration for the metaphysical figure Clizia in his poetry (especially in ''Le Occasioni''). The love story is narrated on Montale's posthumous book ''Lettere a Clizia'' (A.Mondadori, Milan 2006).
==References==
==References==
<references/>
<references/>

==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/5562 Brandeis' defense] of [[Allen Mandelbaum]]'s translation of the ''Divine Comedy''
*[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/5562 Brandeis' defense] of [[Allen Mandelbaum]]'s translation of the ''Divine Comedy''
*[http://www.vieusseux.fi.it/archivio/fondi_acb.html Contemporary Archive "Alessandro Bonsanti"]
*[http://www.vieusseux.it/archivio-contemporaneo/elenco-dei-fondi/irma-brandeis.html Contemporary Archive "Alessandro Bonsanti"]

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandeis, Irma}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandeis, Irma}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Dante Alighieri]]

[[it:Irma Brandeis]]
[[Category:Dante scholars]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:American women essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century American essayists]]
[[Category:Barnard College alumni]]
[[Category:Bard College faculty]]

Latest revision as of 12:28, 2 August 2023

Irma Brandeis
A young white woman with dark hair cut in a short bob with bangs
Irma Brandeis, from the 1926 yearbook of Barnard College
Born1905
Died1990
EducationBarnard College
OccupationDante scholar
EmployerBard College

Irma Brandeis (1905–1990) was an American scholar of Dante Alighieri. Her work The Ladder of Vision was acclaimed as a breakthrough in Dantean studies upon its publication in the 1960s.

Brandeis graduated from Barnard College in 1926.[1] In her visits to Italy between 1933 and 1939 Brandeis became acquainted with the poet Eugenio Montale and was the inspiration for the metaphysical figure "Clizia" in his poetry, a coded senhal[2][3] particularly prominent in his second book, Le Occasioni (The Occasions).[4] The love story is narrated in Montale's posthumous book Lettere a Clizia (A. Mondadori, Milan 2006). Despite significant coverage in the literary press of the 1980s of her "Clizia" identity, Brandeis declined to clarify the nature of her relationship to Montale or discuss her possible significance in his work (particularly in poems she had helped translate).[5]

Brandeis was also a close friend of the poet James Merrill, who funded in her memory the Irma Brandeis Professorship of Romance Cultures and Literature at Bard College (where Brandeis taught from 1944 until her semi-retirement in 1979).[6] Merrill wrote in his 1993 memoir A Different Person about his unsuccessful efforts to encourage reconciliation between Brandeis and Montale late in life.[7] In a memorial tribute to Brandeis (not published until 2004), Merrill wrote of contacting Brandeis through a Ouija board after her death, and finding her happily reunited "in a manner of speaking" with Montale.[7][8]

United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis was the second cousin of Brandeis' father.[9][10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Barnard College, Mortarboard (1926 yearbook): 176.
  2. ^ "italica.rai.it". Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  3. ^ a "senhal" is a pseudonym used in troubadour tradition as a coded mode of address, usually for a woman
  4. ^ Montale, Ungaretti, Saba: guida alla lettura by Tommaso Testaverde, on books.google.it
  5. ^ See (for example) this article by John Ahern: Between the Love of Clizia and Mosca, New York Times, 23 February 1986. Accessed 26 May 2013.
  6. ^ New York Times. Irma Brandeis, Professor, 84, 31 January 1990. Accessed 26 May 2013.
  7. ^ a b Merrill, James. A Different Person. New York: Knopf, 1993, Chapter XIV; quoted in Merrill, James. Collected Prose. New York: Knopf, 2004, pp. 604-607.
  8. ^ Merrill, James. "A Memorial Tribute to Irma Brandeis," published in Collected Prose, pp. 369-370.
  9. ^ Ahern, John (1986-02-23). "BETWEEN THE LOVE OF CLIZIA AND MOSCA". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  10. ^ Cary, Joseph (1993-10-16). Three Modern Italian Poets: Saba, Ungaretti, Montale. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-09527-1.

External links[edit]

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