GEORGE ROZOS

ROZOS--George T.

Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Dies in Greece. Born in 1925, Rozos was a teenager when the Germans invaded Greece. He joined the resistance and was captured by the enemy. Facing execution, young Rozos defended his actions insisting that he was fighting to free his country from foreign invasion. Recognized for bravery and honor he was sent to a prison camp from which he later escaped. Making his way to the USA after the war, Rozos enrolled at Columbia University where he earned his BA, MA and a Ph.D in Philosophy in 1958. He married Virginia Clark and in the early 1960's they had two daughters, Maria and Laura. Sadly, Virginia fell ill and passed away when the girls were still young. Rozos taught at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn until he joined the Integrated Studies Program at Richmond College in 1971, which would later merge into College of Staten Island. He resigned from CSI in 1998, having fought a losing battle against vocationalization but not without leaving a rich academic record. In 1994 he published his life's work, "Dialectic of Action," in which he focused on a central problem in dialectical philosophy. Rozos traveled extensively, loved sailing the Aegean Sea and kept a modest home on the island of Sifnos. In 2003 he married Ellen Looft, his longtime companion, in the seaside town of Voula, near Athens. GTR died in Greece fully appreciating his simple and glorious life. He is deeply missed by those who love him, including his wife, Ellen Looft; daughters, Maria Rozos and Laura Rozos; grandsons, Bairn Rozos Sweeney and Cole Giorgos Horn; sister, Aspasia Loi; sister-in-law, Eva Rozos, and many, many friends and family the world over.