Profile
In this column I would like to feature a member of the Waldinger family whose story would be of interest to all of us. I invite you to submit articles that can be included in future issues of the Newsletter.
For this first issue I have chosen the only Waldinger listed in the 1972 edition of Who’s Who in World Jewry.
ERNST WALDINGER (#205) was born in Vienna, Austria on October 16, 1896. He was a great lyric poet with a worldwide reputation. During World War I he was a Lieutenant in the army on the Russian front. In the autumn of 1917 he was wounded by a grenade that left him paralyzed and dumb. After a long and painful recovery he was once again able to speak, but he never regained the use of his right hand.
He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in 1921. In 1923 he married an American, Beatrice Winternitz, who was a niece of Sigmund Freud.
In 1938 when Hitler came to power, Ernst and his family were expelled from Austria. They were able to immigrate to the United States. Following a period of adjustment, he was appointed Professor of German Literature at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. He taught there for 17 years, from 1947 until 1965. At the time he retired, he was Chair of the German Department.
Ernst died of a stroke in 1970. During his lifetime he wrote many award-winning books of poetry and was decorated by the Austrian government for his achievements in the world of letters.
Renewed interest in Professor Waldinger’s writing has been expressed by the current generation of German students.