December 22, 1920 - August 22, 2017 It's with great sadness that the family of Dr. Claude L. Hulet announces his passing. He was a beloved husband, father, teacher and friend. He will be remembered as one of the most knowledgeable professors of Brazilian literature for which he received the highest honor from the Brazilian government. He was the founder of the annual Symposium on Portuguese Traditions, which he organized at UCLA where he was a professor for over 30 years. He is survived by his wife Maria José, his sons from his former wife Norma: Claude, Richard and Roger, and his stepson, Miguel Pedro and step-grandson Michael Sean. A graveside service will take place at the Riverside National Cemetery on September 5th at 11:45 AM. There will be a memorial service at UCLA this fall.

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Published by Los Angeles Times from Aug. 30 to Aug. 31, 2017.

Memories and Condolences
for Claude Hulet

12 Entries

Bruce Williams

August 24, 2025

I signed this in 2017, December. And it appeared on my email today, so I wanted to reiterate that i think about Claude several times a day! We were very different in many ways, but the same in others. I think of Claude's diverse experiences before becoming a professor of Portuguese. And I think of my own diversification. Claude understood me and my complexity. And this was greatly appreciated. I hope that Maria José, Claude's sons, and Miguel Pedro are all well!
I very much miss my life in Los Angeles!
Although this is a very late response, I was very moved by Piers Armstrong's comments below. I have never met Piers---we are of a different generation of Claude's students. Nonetheless, the image of the lifeboat at sea that Piers evokes makes me think of my doctoral work on Mário Peixoto.
Remembering Claude fondly and gratefully today!
Bruce Williams
William Paterson University

December 22, 2017

I am so sorry for the belated condolences. I learned today of Claude's passing, and am saddened by the loss of someone so passionate for Brasil and Portugal.

Claude loved the air, and was an accomplished pilot as a young man. His passion was the sea! He never stopped!

Claude was my mentor from 1979-1986, and I regret to say that we lost track of each other in recent years. He was on my mind today, and I learned the sad news.
My heartfelt condolences to Maria José, Claude, Richard, Roger, and Miguel Pedro.

Thoughts from New Jersey!

Bruce Williams

December 22, 2017

Hoje estava preparando uma mensagem para o meu amigo Professor Hulet para cumprimentá-lo pelo seu aniversário, como faço todos os anos desde 1964 quando nos conhecemos na UCLA.
Um pressentimento me fez consultar o Google e fui surpreendimento pelo falecimento do velho amigo.
Minhas sinceras condolências a toda família.
Que Deus Ilumine a nova trajetória do amigo que nos deixou.
Didio Rocha Loures

Tigre em bote, e caravela

Piers Armstrong

November 17, 2017

"We hang by a thread..." ("Penduramos por um fio")

That was a saying that Claude Hulet cited to me more than once...

Despite reaching age 96, I think that the sense that life is precarious remained true for Claude. He took nothing for granted.
Even though I kept in regular contact with Claude in the decades since I studied with him at UCLA, for this event, I decided to express thoughts as one of his students at this institution.
Its greatness in relation to Luso-Brazilian studies the library holdings, the diverse range of Brazilianists, the eminent professors of Portuguese (and Spanish) in the Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese, the beautiful Sunset Rec. location for the PTS is patent, and I think also unique. But you know that already. Still, remember: Claude took nothing for granted.
It may be more interesting for us if I speak of the student experience in a human sense. And, for those of you who participated in the PTS, there may be a connection.
At the time I was taking them, Professor Hulet's courses attracted a small and eccentric band of recurring participants. Tae Young Kim was a young Korean woman whose family had spent some years in Brazil. Parallel to Tae, but Taiwanese (and Argentinian), was Beatrice; her father had been educated in Japanese there during the colonial occupation. Another was an Azorian, whose name, Cinelandia, is that of a Rio suburb with many movie theaters. Throw in me an Australian concerned with the international prosperity of a Brazilian writer from the sertão. Throw in, a few years later, Henry Schwarz (also here with us today) a retired advertising man and a high Yankee, whose fast and scarcely comprehensible Portuguese sounds like a Bugs Bunny cameo.
We formed a strange little family and one rather like refugees in a life-boat lost at sea, in that I don't think anyone could have said precisely why we were there. Somehow, we were voluntary fellow travelers in the post-final phase of Portuguese empire that most geographically eclectic, culturally syncretic and psychologically eccentric of national projections. In all of this, Claude was a sort of Quijote to us. But an anti-Quijote because this discreet and shy man so frequently opted for omission rather than articulation of his inner or final thoughts.
Which brings up back to the question of why we were there. What can I say? You had to be there to understand it, but it had soul. We were committed socially, kept faith with Literature .... and were loyal to our leader. By some alchemy, he inspired a saudade of an anticipatory sort. It was a formative experience for all of us.

Piers Armstrong (a graduate student of Prof. Hulet at UCLA)
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José Santos Alves

November 15, 2017

Permitam-me que se exprima em língua portuguesa para homenagear a memória do PROFESSOR CLAUDE L. HULET, grande divulgador da língua portuguesa nas universidades onde leccionou.
Sempre que estive na UCLA, o PROFESSOR CLAUDE HULET acolheu-me sempre com enorme carinho e generosidade, sempre disponível para dar conselhos e apoio.
Os meus mais sinceros sentimentos aos familiares do PROFESSOR CLAUDE HULET, de saudosa memória

Fernando Nunes

November 6, 2017

My sincerest condolences to the Hulet family. May you find comfort in the company of family and friends. May you also find solace in knowing that he had a great impact on Portuguese studies in North America through his support of scholarship and scholars in this field. We are greater, because of his legacy.

Josh Iverson

September 13, 2017

What a great life. Wishing my friend Claude and the family and friends love and peace during this challenging time.

Nick Herbst

September 5, 2017

Thinking of you, Claude and family, during this time of mourning.

Connie Walsh

September 5, 2017

Claude, Sorry to learn of the loss of your father. My prayers and condolences go out to you and your family at this time.

James A. Parr

August 31, 2017

Claude Hulet was a true and worthy role model in his scholarship and in his collegiality. I admired him very much as a scholar but even more so as a human being. He was a member of the 'greatest generation' in the fullest sense of that concept. Condolences to the family from James and Patricia Parr.

August 31, 2017

Sincere condolences to the family. When someone you love dies, the memory of them becomes a treasure in your heart. Hosea 13:14 gives us encouragement that one day those memories will be treasured in a special way.

August 31, 2017

To the Hulet Family: My heartfelt sympathies go out to the family and friends during this difficult time. I hope that the promise in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 can bring comfort. Knowing that there's a hope for the ones we have lost in death can be so reassuring.

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