JOHN GITHENS

GITHENS--John Lawrence. John Lawrence Githens, born July 10, 1937 in Manhattan, died peacefully on September 10, 2024, surrounded by love. John was a life-long New Yorker, a scholar, and a great friend to many who appreciated him for his wit, his hospitality and generosity, and his encyclopedic knowledge of New York's largely vanished Bohemian art world of which he was one of the last remaining authentic members. John attended Regis High School, Fordham University, and Yale and taught Russian literature as a professor at Vassar College and then at St. John's University. He was the consummate host of many gatherings at his apartment in Greenwich Village where he lived for 54 years and which was filled, as his life was, with the work and creative spirit of his late wife, the artist Ingeborg Ten Haeff. John is survived by his nephew Jonathan Githens- Mazer, Jonathan's wife Helena Barton, and his children Lilly, Nathaniel, and Gabriel; his step-grand- daughter Alexandra Manuela Vargas Kimball, her husband Billy, and their children Fernanda and Austin; his cousin Stoytcho Stoytchev and Stoytcho's mother Stephanie Norton de Beauvais; and his cousins Michael and Christopher Norton, Christopher's wife Brigitte, and their children Adrien and Christina. He is also survived by the many dear friends who were, in their own way, a great work of art and who enriched his own life and were, in turn, enriched by his. Plans for a celebration of John's life will be forthcoming. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in his memory to The Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City.