Irma Brandeis (1905–1990) was an American scholar of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

. 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 Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1926. In her visits to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

between 1933 and 1939 Brandeis became acquainted with the poet

Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and works Early years Montale was born in Genoa. His family were che ...

and was the inspiration for the metaphysical figure "Clizia" in his poetry, a coded senhal particularly prominent in his second book, ''Le Occasioni'' (The Occasions). 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).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. Brandeis was also a close friend of the poet

James Merrill James Ingram Merrill (March 3, 1926 – February 6, 1995) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1977 for ''Divine Comedies.'' His poetry falls into two distinct bodies of work: the polished and formalist lyri ...

, who funded in her memory the Irma Brandeis Professorship of Romance Cultures and Literature at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic ...

(where Brandeis taught from 1944 until her semi-retirement in 1979).New York Times
Irma Brandeis, Professor, 84
31 January 1990. Accessed 26 May 2013. Merrill wrote in his 1993 memoir ''A Different Person'' about his unsuccessful efforts to encourage reconciliation between Brandeis and Montale late in life. In a memorial tribute to Brandeis (not published until 2004), Merrill wrote of contacting Brandeis through a

Ouija board The ouija ( , ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and grap ...

after her death, and finding her happily reunited "in a manner of speaking" with Montale.Merrill, James. ''A Different Person.'' New York: Knopf, 1993, Chapter XIV; quoted in Merrill, James. ''Collected Prose''. New York: Knopf, 2004, pp. 604-607.Merrill, James. "A Memorial Tribute to Irma Brandeis," published in ''Collected Prose'', pp. 369-370.

United States Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

Louis Brandeis Louis Dembitz Brandeis (; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer and associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939. Starting in 1890, he helped develop the "right to privacy" concept ...

was the second cousin of Brandeis' father.

References

External links

Brandeis' defense
of

Allen Mandelbaum __NOTOC__ Allen Mandelbaum (May 4, 1926 – October 27, 2011) was a American Jews, Jewish American professor of literature and the humanities, poet, and translator from Classical Greek, Latin and Italian. His translations of classic works gained hi ...

's translation of the ''Divine Comedy''
Contemporary Archive "Alessandro Bonsanti"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandeis, Irma 1905 births 1990 deaths Dante Alighieri Dante scholars 20th-century poets 20th-century American writers American essayists 20th-century essayists Barnard College alumni Bard College faculty