Professor Leonard Stagg Geoffrey

Professor Geoffrey Leonard Stagg, B.A., M.A., O.B.E. Scholar Peacefully at Toronto, on November 10, 2004, at the age of 91, after a lengthy illness. Devoted husband of the late Amy Southwell Stagg; father of Pamela, of Prince Edward County; Peter (Noriko) of Calgary; and Christopher (Suzy) of Chicago; grandfather of Andrew and Malcolm of Calgary; predeceased by brothers Trougher (the late Hilda); Reg (Fran) and Roy (Pat) and sister Maude. A pre-eminent scholar of the works of Cervantes, Prof. Stagg began his academic career with a B.A. from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, graduating with First Class Honours, in the Medieval and Modern Languages Tripos in both French and Spanish. He attended Harvard University on the Joseph Hodges Choate Memorial Scholarship (recommended by the Chancellor of Cambridge University) and earned an M.A. in Romance Philology. Returning to England, he was appointed Modern Languages Master at Taunton School and King Edward School, and Lecturer in French and Spanish at Birmingham University.
During the Second World War, he served in the British Intelligence Corps in England, Gibraltar, North Africa and Italy. His contribution to the war effort was described by Winston Churchill as 'splendid'; he was commended by the British Foreign Office and in 1945, he was decorated as a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
After the war, he was posted to Vienna, where he helped track down suspected war criminals. He was offered the position of Deputy Chief of Denazification, but chose to return to academic life and an appointment as Lecturer in Nottingham University's Department of Languages.
He married his beloved Amy Southwell in 1948. In 1954, he was asked to head the newly-created Department of Spanish at the University of Nottingham.
In 1956, he brought his family to Canada, where he became a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Toronto, a department he guided to international stature. After his retirement in 1977, he continued to make significant contributions to Cervantine scholarship, and even during his last hospitalization, he fretted about the articles that remained unfinished on his desk.
The family will receive friends at the HUMPHREY FUNERAL HOME - A.W. MILES CHAPEL, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Eglinton Avenue East), from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, November 15th. A service of remembrance will be held in the chapel on Tuesday, November 16th at one o'clock. In lieu of flowers, you may wish to make a donation to The Nature Conservancy, 110 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 400, Toronto M4R 1A3, or the charity of your choice.
The family wish to express deep appreciation to the kind, devoted staff of Team 5 East, Bridgepoint Hospital, and to Dr. Iris Gorfinkel for her compassionate care.
'I have battled. I have made mistakes, but I have lived my life the best I can, according to the world as I see it.' (Don Quixote)