Pearl Kibre (September 2, 1900 — July 15, 1985) was an American historian. She won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1950 for her work on medieval science and universities.

Early life and education

Pearl Kibre was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, the daughter of Kenneth Kibre, an optometrist born in Russia, and Jane du Pione Kibre. She moved to California as a girl with her parents; she attended

Manual Arts High School Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high sch ...

in Los Angeles. Kibre attended the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

as an undergraduate (1924) and master's (1925) student, and completed doctoral studies at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1936, with

Lynn Thorndike Lynn Thorndike (24 July 1882, in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA – 28 December 1965, Columbia University Club, New York City) was an American historian of medieval science and alchemy. He was the son of a clergyman, Edward R. Thorndike, and the young ...

as her mentor.Jennifer Scanlon and Shaaron Cosner, eds.
''American Women Historians, 1700s-1990s''
(Greenwood Publishing 1996): 131-132. She taught at Pasadena Junior College for a few years before resuming graduate work. (Her sister Adele Kibre also earned a Ph.D., in Latin Language and Literature, from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

.)Elspeth Whitney and Irving A. Kelter
"Pearl Kibre (1900-1985): Manuscript Hunter and Historian of Medieval Science and the Universities"
in Jane Chance, ed., ''Women Medievalists and the Academy'' (University of Wisconsin Press 2005): 541-551.

Career

Pearl Kibre "helped lay the foundations for the contemporary study of medieval science and medieval universities." She was on the faculty of Hunter College from 1937 until she retired in 1971. She helped found the doctoral program in history at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In 1950 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to travel to European archives to study medieval universities. She became a corresponding member of the

International Academy of the History of Science The International Academy of the History of Science (french: Académie Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences) is a membership organization for historians of science. The academy was founded on 17 August 1928 at the Congress of Historical Science b ...

in 1960. Kibre was a member of the

International Committee of Historical Sciences The International Committee of Historical Sciences / Comité international des Sciences historiques (ICHS / CISH) is the international association of historical scholarship. It was established as a non-governmental organization in Geneva on May 1 ...

, the United States Subcommission for the History of Universities, and the editorial board of ''Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries''. She was elected a fellow of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...

in 1964, the same year she won the

Haskins Medal The Haskins Medal is an annual medal awarded by the Medieval Academy of America. It is awarded for the production of a distinguished book in the field of medieval studies. Award The Haskins Medal is awarded by a committee of three; a chairman, an ...

from the same organization. Books by Pearl Kibre included ''The Library of Pico della Mirandola'' (1936), ''A Catalogue of Incipits of Mediaeval Scientific Writings in Latin'' (1937, revised 1963, with Lynn Thorndike), ''The Nations in the Mediaeval Universities'' (1948), ''Scholarly Privileges in the Middle Ages'' (1962), ''Hippocrates Latinus: Repertorium of Hippocratic Writings in the Latin Middle Ages, Volume 3'' (1975), ''Studies in Medieval Science: Alchemy, Astrology, Mathematics, and Medicine'' (1984). In addition, an edited volume of essays was collected in her honor, ''Science, Medicine, and the University, 1200-1500'' (1976); and she contributed to the ''Didascaliae'', a volume of research using materials from the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

, presented to the Vatican in 1961.

Death and legacy

Pearl Kibre died in 1985, aged 84 years, at her home in New York City. The Pearl Kibre Medieval Study is a study space maintained by an interdisciplinary graduate student organization at The Graduate Center, CUNY, begun in 1972 and named in her honor.Pearl Kibre Medieval Study
CUNY Academic Commons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibre, Pearl 1900 births 1985 deaths American people of Russian descent University of California, Berkeley alumni Columbia University alumni Hunter College faculty Graduate Center, CUNY faculty Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America American medievalists Women medievalists American women historians Historians of science American medical historians 20th-century American women