Lewis J. Edinger: 1922-2008

This is a very hard post to write. I tend to not write personal posts on this blog, but will today.

My father, Lewis J. Edinger, died on Monday. There is a notice in today’s New York Times and I hope they will publish an obituary in the next few weeks. I wrote briefly about him in this post about Holocaust literature and will certainly write more about him here and elsewhere now. He was an emeritus professor of government at Columbia University specializing in leadership, post-war Germany, Europe, and other related areas. His last book, co-authored with Brigitte Nacos, was From Bonn to Berlin: German Politics in Transition. My father came from a line of prominent academics, notably his grandfather Ludwig Edinger, a prominent neurologist who helped found the University of Frankfurt and discovered the Edinger-Westphal nucleus in the brain. His institute continues to thrive today and in April 2005 my father and I were guests of honor at a celebration and symposium for his 150th birthday.

Aside from his intellectual prowess, scholarship, and heritage, my father was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. All who knew him were enriched by the experience.