Thomas Goddard Bergin (November 17, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American scholar of

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italian people, Italians or in Languages of Italy, other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely re ...

, who was "noted particularly for his research on

Dante 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: '' ...

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

'' and for its translation." He was the Sterling Professor of Romance Languages at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, and Master of

Timothy Dwight College Timothy Dwight College, commonly abbreviated and referred to as "TD", is a residential college at Yale University named after two presidents of Yale, Timothy Dwight IV and his grandson, Timothy Dwight V. The college was designed in 1935 by James ...

. He is the first poet to have his words launched into outer space to orbit the earth.

Author, translator, editor

He is recognized as an authority on

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so we ...

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

, and the Provençal

troubadours A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairi ...

, as well as modern Italian writers, including

Alberto Moravia Alberto Moravia ( , ; born Alberto Pincherle ; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990) was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia is best known for his d ...

Salvatore Quasimodo Salvatore Quasimodo (; August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own time ...

Giovanni Verga Giovanni Carmelo Verga di Fontanabianca (; 2 September 1840 – 27 January 1922) was an Italian realist ('' verista'') writer, best known for his depictions of life in his native Sicily, especially the short story and later play ''Cavalleria ...

, and

Giambattista Vico Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico ; ; 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist during the Italian Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationali ...

. Bartlett Giamatti referred to him as the “grand statesman of Italian scholarship in America.” Among his translations are

(1948), which was published in three-volumes with illustrations by

Leonard Baskin Leonard Baskin (August 15, 1922 – June 3, 2000) was an American sculptor, draughtsman and graphic artist, as well as founder of the Gehenna Press (1942–2000). One of America's first fine arts presses, it went on to become "one of the most imp ...

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli ( , , ; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527), occasionally rendered in English as Nicholas Machiavel ( , ; see below), was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Renaissance. ...

's ''The Prince'' (1947) and

's ''New Science'' (1946) with Max Fisch. He published scholarly texts and monographs on authors and the literature of renaissance Italy, France, Spain and Provençal. His biography of the Italian author ''Boccaccio'' (1981) was considered a “notable book” of the year by the ''New York Times'', and was a finalist in 1981 for the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

of 1623. This in part involved restoring many original wordings and punctuation that long editorial tradition had permitted to be altered. He was prolific; the bibliography of his works in ''Italian Literature: Roots and Branches'' (1976), lists thirty-seven books, fifteen contributions to books, fifty articles in periodicals, and almost 500 book reviews. His book ''Dante'' (1965) was published during the 700th anniversary year of the birth of the Italian poet, a busy year for Bergin, during which he created a conference at Yale on Dante, he was the editor of the conference papers, which were published in book form as ''From Time to Eternity'', and he travelled extensively lecturing on Dante. Julius A. Molinaro, writing in "Forum Italicum", the journal of Italian studies, states that there must be few "who are not acquainted with some aspect of his work, for it touches many fields ranging ... from the Provencal

to translations of contemporary Italian poetry. Between these limits are a Dante concordance and invaluable books on Dante, Petrarch and Vico."

The Divine Comedy

Thomas G. Bergin writes that ''The Divine Comedy'' "is everything: a personal confession, a vast love lyric, an encyclopedia of the knowledge of the Middle Ages ... and of course quite simply an absorbing narrative." ''The Divine Comedy'' is made up of 14,233 lines, divided into three parts; Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. Thomas G. Bergin's English translation casts Dante's poem into

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...

. It begins with these lines:

Yale

The chapter written by Bergin in the book, ''My Harvard, My Yale'', recounts how from an early age, he had a deep and abiding appreciation for

. He was born in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, not far from the university, he attended public high school, and was awarded the only scholarship that was given each year by the town to a local boy to attend Yale. He entered Yale as an undergraduate in 1921, just as the twenties were beginning to roar. He found there an invigorating academic environment, but also a social stratification that kept the students from more privileged backgrounds apart from the others. Thomas G. Bergin wanted to make his mark at Yale, and recognized that academic achievement was a way open to him. He describes how he "came to enjoy learning" and by his senior year, he says, "it became for me an unadulterated rapture". At this point—twenty years old and approaching graduation— an opportunity was presented to him, that would be his life's journey, and it would begin with a required sojourn in Florence, Dante's home. But there was a parental figure who was determined to prevent him from taking this first step. The story of his escape from home, up until the gangplanks are drawn up and the ship sets sail, as he relates it in the essay, "Endings and Beginnings", is a tale of suspense. He earned his B.A. from Yale in 1925, traveled to Italy to study and live, and then returned to Yale to earn a Ph.D. in romance languages in 1929. He taught at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

as a teacher of Italian from 1925 until 1930. In 1949, he became head of Yale's Spanish and Italian Department, and the Benjamin Barge Professor of Romance Languages and Literature. When Bergin returned to Yale after the war, he "could see at once how greatly the college system had improved life under the elms." The college system that was introduced in the 1930s had the effect of solving the problem of social stratification by stirring up the social order and getting students from all backgrounds and experiences to live, study and be together—a richer social life became available to everyone. Another result was that the system of fraternities diminished. Thomas G. Bergin was appointed master of

in 1953. As Master, he presided over a community of young scholars who lived in the college. As Master, he also hosted The Timothy Dwight Chubb Fellowship visits of notable people from various walks of life, including the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

from 1945 to 1951

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

, conservative

presidential candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

of 1964

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

, President

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

, Adlai Stevenson, actor

Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary ''Variety'', April 16, 1975, p ...

, novelist

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her fi ...

, and future President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. When the visit by the conservative Californian candidate, Ronald Reagan, was announced, it stirred up controversy in the political atmosphere of 1967— there were those who wanted the invitation withdrawn.

William F. Buckley, Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

, who is described as a "life long friend" of Bergin, in spite of each man being on opposite ends of the political spectrum, weighed in on the controversy in his syndicated newspaper column. Buckley, writing with what the

Yale Daily News The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878. It is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States. The ''Yale Daily News'' has consis ...

described as "tongue-in-cheek" referred to Bergin as "a scholar aesthete of obstinate liberalism." Bergin responded by saying “I always enjoy Buckley’s prose. For once I find it difficult to quarrel with him.” Buckley was further inspired to imagine Bergin "lamenting the furor over his invitation to Reagan" with a quote from the Divine Comedy: “I cannot well report how I entered it, so full was I of slumber at that moment when I abandoned the true way.” Bergin had a reputation as an impressive speaker with a striking wit. A few of the speeches that he gave as Master, along with other writings and notes posted on the bulletin board, were gathered together and published in the book ''Master Pieces'', which was edited by Bartlett Giamatti and

T. K. Seung T. K. Seung was a Korean American philosopher and literary critic. His academic interests cut across diverse philosophical and literary subjects, including ethics, political philosophy, Continental philosophy, cultural hermeneutics, and liter ...

. In 1957 he became the Sterling Professor of Romance Languages and Literature, and when he retired in 1973 he became Sterling Professor Emeritus. He was an unofficial historian of Yale in his book on Yale football, ''Gridiron Glory'' (1978), and in his column, "Time and Change", which was published regularly for twenty years in the ''

Yale Alumni Magazine The ''Yale Alumni Magazine'' is an alumni magazine about Yale University. It was founded in 1891. The ''Magazine''s statement of purpose approved on June 16, 2003 says:''Yale Alumni Magazine''"Statement of purpose" Retrieved April 7, 2007. Y ...

''. He wrote of the Harvard/Yale football rivalry in his book ''The Game'' (1984). In 1989, Yale established the Thomas Bergin scholarships for Italian majors, and the dining room of

was named in his honor.

World War II

During the war, Major Bergin was assigned to the headquarters of the

Allied Control Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Easter ...

in Italy, where he served as director of public relations from 1943 to 1946. For his service during the war, Bergin was decorated with the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, the

Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and fore ...

and the

Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus ( it, Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro) (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the wo ...

and Ordine della Corona d'Italia from Italy, and the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. He was stationed in the hills that overlooked the Bay of Naples and the Isle of Capri where the sun would set every night. It was a time when the allied forces had arrived and were battling the enemy, from hill to hill, from the south to the north, leaving behind a bruised and traumatized country. His wartime experiences are expressed in verse in his book, ''Parco Grifeo''.

Poet

The ''New York Times'' referred to him as “a renowned Dante scholar and a wry poet in his own right”. His poems are published in books, magazines and quarterlies. His poem, "Space Prober", became, on November 15, 1961, the first poem sent to orbit in outer space. The poem was inscribed on an instrument panel, and launched on a Transit Research and Attitude Control (TRAAC) Satellite, where it continues to orbit the earth at an altitude of 600 miles, and is expected to continue orbiting for the next 800 years.

Personal life

Thomas G. Bergin, or "TGB" as he was sometimes known, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on November 17, 1904, a child of Thomas Joseph Bergin and Irvinea Jane Frances Goddard Bergin. Thomas Joseph Bergin graduated from Yale in 1896. Thomas G. Bergin attended New Haven High School, and then Yale, where he received a B.A. in 1925 and a Ph.D. in romance languages in 1929. He married Florence Bullen of

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

, England on December 30, 1929. He taught at Yale College from 1925 until 1930, and was a professor of Spanish and Italian at Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University from 1930 to 1935. He then moved to Albany and taught romance languages at the New York State Teachers College. He then went on to

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

from 1941 to 1948 where he was a professor of romance languages. In 1943, he received an appointment to teach at the United States School of Military Government at Charlottesville, Virginia. Thomas G. Bergin died on October 30, 1987, age eighty-three, at home in Madison, Connecticut. He was survived by his wife, who has since died; two daughters, Winifred Hart, of Lexington, Virginia and

Jennifer von Mayrhauser Jennifer von Mayrhauser is an American costume designer who has designed costumes for more than thirty Broadway productions, and is notable for her significant contributions in film, television, and theatre. Life and studies Von Mayrhauser was ...

of New York; six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Honors

Thomas G. Bergin's honors include the Dante and Petrarch Medals, the Yale Medal, the

Wilbur Cross Medal The Wilbur Cross Medal, or Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal for Alumni Achievement, is an award by the Yale University Graduate School Alumni Association to recognize "...distinguished achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic administration, and p ...

, Honorary

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, and the

for his military service to his country during the war. In recognition of his many contributions to Italian studies, the Italian government made him Commander of the Order of Civil Merit in 1969. He received honorary degrees from Hofstra College in 1958, Fairfield University in 1965, and the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1984. He was awarded the

DeVane Medal in 1975. He was a member of the American Association of Teachers of Italian (president in 1947), 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 ...

, the Dante Society of America, the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations. The AAUP's stated mission is ...

(president of the Yale chapter from 1951 to 1952), and

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

Books

*''Giovanni Verga'' (1931) *''Modern Italian Short Stories'' (1938), editor *''Luciano Zuccoli: ritratto umbertino (1940) *''Anthology of the Provençal Troubadours'' (1973), editor, with Raymond Thompson Hill *''Three French Plays'' (1941), editor with R.T. Hill *''Spanish Grammar'' (1943) textbook with G. Dale *''The Autobiography of Giambattista Vico'', by Vico (1944), translator with Max Fisch *''Parco Grifeo'' (1946), verse wartime writings *''The Prince'', Machiavelli (1947), translator and editor *''Dante's "Inferno" ''(1948) translator *''Dante's "Purgatorio" ''(1953) translator *''Dante's "Paradiso" ''(1954) translator *''Divine Comedy ''(1955) translator * ''The Poems of William of Poitou'' (1955), translator *''Yale Shakespeare The Complete Works'', ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1954) editor *''The Divine Comedy'', by Dante Alighieri (1955), translator and editor *''Translations from Petrarch'' (1955), editor, and translator with others *''Procul Este a Gramine'' (1960) *''Almanac for Academics'' (1960) *''The New Science of Giambattista Vico'', by Vico (1961), translator with Max Fisch *''Bertran de Born'' (1964) translator, editor *''Master Pieces'' (1964) edited by

and

A. Bartlett Giamatti Angelo Bartlett Giamatti (; April 4, 1938 – September 1, 1989) was an American professor of English Renaissance literature, the president of Yale University, and the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti served as Commiss ...

*''Italian Sampler'' (1964) translator, editor *''Dante'' (1965) *''Approach to Dante'' (1965) *''The Sonnets of Petrarch'' (1965) translator, editor *''Concordance to the Divine Comedy'' (1965) editor with E. H. Wilkins, et al *''Sonnets and Odes of Petrarch'' (1966) translator, editor *''Perspective on the Divine Comedy'' (1967) *''From Time to Eternity'' (1967) editor *''A Diversity of Dante'' (1969) *''The Divine Comedy'' (1969) translator, rev. trans. *''Dante: His Life, His Times, His Works'' (1970) translator, editor *''Cervantes: His Life, His Times, His Works'' (1970) translator, editor *''Petrarch'' (1970) *''Dante's Divine Comedy'' (1971) *''On Sepulchres'' (1971), translator and editor *''Anthology of the Provençal Troubadours'' (1973), editor, along with Raymond Thompson Hill *''Bucolicum Carmen'', by Petrarch (1974), translator and editor *''Italian Literature, Roots and Branches'' (1976) ed. Kenneth Atchity Giose Rimanelli *''Africa'' (1977) translator with Alice S. Wilson *''Gridiron Glory'' (1978) *''Boccaccio'' (1981) *''My Harvard My Yale'' (1982) ed. Diana Dubois, TGB contributing author *''Under Scorpio'' (1982) *''Yale's Residential Colleges; the First Fifty Years'' (1982) *''The Game: The Harvard-Yale Football Rivalry, 1875-1983'' (1984) *''Old Provençal Primer'' (1984) co-author with Nathaniel B. Smith *''Encyclopedia of the Renaissance'' (1987) co-author with

Jennifer Speake Jennifer Speake, ''née'' Drake-Brockman (born 1944, Toronto) is a Canadian-British freelance writer and editor of reference books. Life Jennifer Anne Speake was born in Toronto in 1944. She was the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Percy Lumsde ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergin, Thomas G 1904 births 1987 deaths Cornell University faculty Yale University alumni Burials at Grove Street Cemetery Translators of Dante Alighieri Dante scholars Yale Sterling Professors Writers from New Haven, Connecticut Yale University faculty Order of Civil Merit members PEN International Honorary Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century translators 20th-century American poets