René Galand
Week of March 12, 2001

Most Wellesley students and alumnae, if asked why they chose this particular college, would include the intellectual environment in their list of reasons. Their ideal faculty member would be one who not only knows a lot and enjoys teaching, but who also loves to learn and relishes participating in an intellectual community.

Emeritus Professor of French René Galand fills such a role. He was born in 1923, in Châteauneuf-du-Faou, a small city in Brittany. His university years, 1941-1944, at the University of Rennes, coincided with the German occupation of France. Galand passed the competitive exam for the French military academy, Saint-Cyr, in 1943, but, Galand relates, "The academy was closed by the Germans, so I joined the underground and took part in the fighting for the Liberation in 1944. Our unit had been armed by the Free French, by parachute drops. We had an American OSS [Office of Strategic Services] advisor, Captain Bernard Knox, who is now a leading Classical scholar."

At a time when admission to academic programs in the United States was extremely competitive, since so many young men had postponed their education in order to join the military in World War II, Galand's record as an undergraduate enabled him to enter a graduate program at Yale University, where he earned a Ph.D., in 1952, and began his teaching career. He joined Wellesley's French department in Fall, 1951, specializing in the literature and culture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Galand is fluent in Breton, a Celtic language, as well as French and English. Famous and highly regarded as a Breton poet and authority on Celtic civilization, Galand received the coveted Xavier de Langlais Prize for Breton literature in 1980. He is also a published short story writer in Breton and French. His scholarly publications, in books and journals, are in French and English. Galand's achievements were recognized by the government of France in 1971, when he was named Chevalier dans l'ordre des Palmes Academiques "in recognition of his scholarly distinction and many services rendered to French culture."

Upon his retirement in 1993, President Keohane noted his wisdom and "his immense knowledge". Galand's colleague, Professor of French Vicki E. Mistacco, fondly calls Galand "a walking encyclopedia ­ the person who [is] always excited to talk with you about your project and who always [has] bibliography and other information to contribute." While Galand's writing on French literature is usually addressed to the most erudite readers, he has also written for undergraduates and other non-specialists in such works as The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, one of the most important reference books for anyone studying literature, and in the Twayne's World Authors Series, which supports students in literature courses at the 100/200 level.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Galand contributed to a major bibliography in the field of 19^th century French literature (French VI) by selecting and organizing articles from dozens of journals in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. He later spent seven years as assistant editor of the French Review, which continues to be one of the most important scholarly journals.

Galand became interested in surrealism, a major literary and artistic movement launched in 1924 by French poet André Breton. A dictionary definition states that it is a movement "proclaiming the radical transformation of all existing social, scientific, and philosophical values through the total liberation of the unconscious." Though "radical", surrealism is rooted in the works of many of the romantic and symbolist French poets, such as Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Apollinaire, and Saint-John Perse, whose work formed the basis of the courses taught by Galand. He organized the Symposium on Surrealism at Wellesley in Fall, 1974, for the 50^th anniversary of the First Manifesto of Surrealism.

Early in his Wellesley career, Galand performed in several plays on campus. At that time, too, the faculty had a tradition of staging quadrennial shows featuring a male chorus line costumed in tutus. As his career progressed, Galand's wit and sense of humor more often found expression in literary and cultural activities. When computers became available, Galand was intrigued by their use in art and music, and he explored ways of using a computer in the creative process of making poetry. As an emeritus, he continues his creative investigations, writes prose and poetry, and ensures that the Wellesley College Library collection of Breton literature remains strong.

Written by Sally Linden