George N. Shuster

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George Nauman Shuster (born August 27, 1894 in Lancaster , Wisconsin , † January 25, 1977 in South Bend , Indiana ) was an American philologist and educator. Shuster served, among other things, as the American state commissioner for Bavaria .

Life and activity

Shuster grew up as the son of German emigrants from Saarland in the US state of Wisconsin. After attending school, he studied philosophy and literature and new languages. He obtained his first degree in 1915 at the University of Notre Dame . During the First World War Shuster was used with the US Army in Europe.

Upon his return from the war, Shuster earned a master's degree in English from the university. From 1920 to 1924 he was the head of the English seminary at the same institution. He then worked from 1924 to 1935 as an English teacher at St. Joseph's College for Women in Brooklyn . He was also an editor for the New York Catholic magazine Commonweal . In 1937 he withdrew from the workforce because of the editorial management's support for the Frankists in Spain.

In 1932 Shuster went on his first study trip to Germany. On this occasion he learned the German language, which he soon mastered at the level of a native speaker. A second trip to Germany followed in 1937. On this occasion he had, among other things, the opportunity to observe the state visit of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to Munich .

In 1940 Shuster graduated from Columbia University with his doctorate. He then became president of Hunter College in New York. He held this position - interrupted by longer leave of absence to perform other tasks - until 1960. After the American entry into World War II , Shuster, who was considered a prominent Catholic and Germany expert and was a personal friend of the former German Chancellor Heinrich Brüning , acted as an advisor to the State Department for cultural matters with regard to the German Empire. As a teacher, he was also in the preparation of Reeducation involved program.

In the first post-war period, Shuster was entrusted by the US Army as an interrogation officer with the questioning of high-ranking prisoners of war because of his good knowledge of the German language. For example, in July 1945 he interrogated the former Chancellor Franz von Papen at Camp Ashcan in Bad Mondorf .

From July 1950 to December 1951 Shuster served as State Commissioner of the American Occupation Administration for Bavaria. In 1950 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . A few years later he held the post of American representative at UNESCO .

In 1961 Shuster returned to Notre Dame University, where he took on the role of assistant to University President Theodore Hesburgh . He remained in this position until his death.

Shuster published nearly twenty books and around three hundred magazine articles, focusing on the subjects of education, world politics and religion.

Fonts

  • The Catholic Spirit in Modern English Literature , 1922.
  • The English Ode from Milton to Keats , 1940.
  • Modern Education and Human Values , 1948. (together with Edward Weeks and Reinhold Niebuhr )
  • Religion behind the Iron Curtain , 1960 (translated by Karl Kindermann and Georg Bohn)
  • Moral and Theological Considerations , 1964. (with Donald N. Barrett)
  • Practical Catholic Applications , 1964.
  • The Ground I Walked on , 1981.
  • Catholic Education in a Changing World , 1969.

literature

  • Thomas E. Blantz: George N. Shuster. On the Side of Truth , 1993.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Shuster, George N.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shuster, George Nauman (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American philologist and educator
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Lancaster, Wisconsin
DATE OF DEATH January 25, 1977
Place of death South Bend