American Academy in Berlin Honors Richard Holbrooke

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FLEDGLING FELLOWSHIP


Board members and friends of the American Academy in Berlin gathered on the Upper East Side last week to celebrate a new fellowship named for Richard Holbrooke. Established to foster trans-Atlantic relations, the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Fellowship will bring foreign policy experts to Berlin each year. Mr. Holbrooke was the founding chairman of the American Academy in Berlin and also served as a former American ambassador to the United Nations and to Germany.


A trio of chief executives – Heinrich von Pierer of Siemens, Jurgen Schrempp of DaimlerChrysler, and Wolfgang Mayrhuber of Lufthansa – led the way in establishing the endowed fellowship.


The American Academy in Berlin is a nonprofit that aims to establish intellectual and professional ties between Germans and Americans in the arts and humanities, as well as in public affairs. Its headquarters are located in the Wannsee district of Berlin, in what once was the house of banker and cultural leader Hans Arnhold and his family. They fled Germany during the 1930s, and upon arriving in America, Arnhold helped found Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder.


Among those present at the reception were Kwame Anthony Appiah, who has been researching the subject of individuality and politics; an emeritus professor of history at Columbia University and a founding trustee of the American Academy in Berlin, Fritz Stern, who is at work on a book called “Five Germanies I Have Known”; Newsweek International’s editor, Fareed Zakaria; James Hoge of Foreign Affairs; a co-chair of the New York Review of Books, Robert Silvers, who had attended a Paris Review Foundation event the previous evening; cartoonist Jules Feiffer, and actor Joel Grey (“Cabaret”).


Mr. Holbrooke said that few Americans are aware of the American Academy in Berlin, but that in Germany the institution is well known and has become a center for trans-Atlantic dialogue.


He recalled a bit of Wansee’s dark past with an anecdote dating to the academy’s renovation of its villa six years ago.


As someone was in the midst of giving a speech, a gust of wind off the lake for which Wannsee is named opened doors of the villa “as though ghosts of the Third Reich” were attempting to interrupt.


***


SIMIC SPEAKS


The poet Charles Simic, who teaches English at the University of New Hampshire and translates poetry from French, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovenian, recently delivered the seventh annual Stanley Burnshaw lecture. His topic was “The Art of the Impossible: Poetry and Translation.”


The audience laughed when, in introducing the evening, Morris Dickstein recalled how Mr. Simic once described certain verse as “a few words surrounded by much silence.”


During the question-and-answer period, Mr. Simic concurred that there has been a paucity of foreign literary works available in English. He continued to recount a recent discussion with a friend in London. They were pondering that there have been many translations of foreign language literature into English – but of the same poems, such as Dante’s “Inferno” or the “Odes of Horace.”


The talk was co-sponsored by the CUNY Graduate Center’s Center for the Humanities and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.


***


SWING LOEW, SWEET CHARIOT


Ben Hur’s chariot and a Shirley Temple paper doll were among the items that Loews Theaters donated to the Museum of the Moving Image to commemorate the company’s 100th anniversary.


At a reception in Queens, Loews officials also introduced this year’s Ultimate Film Fan (selected for her song, which included the lyrics, “Oh say can you see, the ultimate film fan is me…”).


Movie-lovers then belted out, “Thank you for coming to Loews!” as the crowd nibbled mini ice cream bars and chocolate stars wrapped in shiny gold foil.


In a display illustrating how widescreen films are chopped down to fit a television format, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” played. It showed Howard Keel in his favorite role, a poignant note for fans of the leading man, who recently passed away.


***


DEAK FEST


Colleagues and former students of the Seth Low professor emeritus of history at Columbia University, Istvan Deak, braved the rain to fete him on Friday at a reception for a festschrift published by Berghahn Books. Mr. Deak, who specializes in central and east-central European history, has taught generations of students. Plans are afoot to endow a chair at Columbia University for Mr. Deak, and an event on December 1 is scheduled.


The book’s co-editor, Pieter Judson, who is also a history professor at Swarthmore College, told those assembled at the School of International & Public Affairs, “There is a Deak school of history.” Mr. Judson added that his former teacher is known for graceful and witty prose.


Offering brief remarks himself, Mr. Deak responded by saying, “I’m supposed to be witty.” He said he was not sure of what the “Deak school of history” consisted, but said of those who enrolled in his classes, “Anyway, you had no choice.” The audience laughed.


***


FAIR AND BALANCED


A former congressman and president emeritus of New York University, John Brademas, offered remarks on the occasion of the inaugural lecture at the Taub Center for Israel Studies of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU. Ronald Zweig delivered the main talk.


Mr. Brademas recalled that years ago, when he was serving as NYU’s president, he awarded an honorary degree to Shimon Peres.


Mr. Brademas told Mr. Peres, “Prime Minister, you may be interested to know, sir, that in numbers of students, New York University is the largest Jewish university in the world.” Mr. Brademas paused to add, “and also the largest Roman Catholic university in the United States. Only a congressman would note the confluence of factors.”


***


KNICK-KNACKS


Harvard University law professor Arthur Miller seen walking west on 45th Street in Manhattan.


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