In Memoriam: Sarah Vandegrift Eldridge

A professor at the University of Tennessee/Knoxville, Sarah was a member of the Lessing Society board and a co-editor of the Goethe Yearbook, and was a leading light of transatlantic 18th century German studies. She was an exemplary scholar, activist, and human being, and a warm and invigorating presence in our fields. Her absence will be keenly felt. 

In a recent message to the GSNA membership, the president of the Goethe Society, Heidi Schlipphacke, wrote the following: 

"There is no way to fill the gap that Sarah’s death leaves in our Society. She was a brilliant and prolific scholar working, in particular, on the 18th- and 19th-century German novel and its correspondences and intersections with questions of narratology, philosophy, subjecthood, gender, race, and kinship. Her meticulously researched work is exquisitely written, opening up entirely new avenues of thought about some of the most canonized works in German literature (such as Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) as well as lesser-known works by more popular authors. The fact that she was the winner (together with her also brilliant sister, Hannah) of the 2020 Goethe Society Essay Prize (a prize chosen each year from a pool of ca. 40 published articles in the field) highlights the immense resonance of her scholarship. Her recently published second monograph, Composite Selves: Subjecthood in the German Novel, 1700–1795 (Oxford University Press), has been eagerly awaited by our membership and appeared on January 2, the day of her death. The fact that Sarah was able to complete this work under such difficult conditions is truly inspirational and yet another testament to the fact that she was an exceptional person and scholar."

A roundtable is planned at this year's German Studies Association to honor Sarah's life and work, and will be sponsored by both the Lessing and Goethe Societies. Her home institution, whose tribute to Sarah can be read here, is in the process of setting up a scholarship fund in her honor. 

The Lessing Society extends its heartfelt condolences to Sarah's family and her many friends.

Mary Helen Dupree, President, The Lessing Society
Thomas Martinec, Vice-President, The Lessing Society and Co-Editor, The Lessing Yearbook
Mary Bricker, Secretary-Treasurer, The Lessing Society
Members of The Lessing Society Board 
Membership of The Lessing Society