Richard Helgerson

HELGERSON-Richard Helgerson, one of the leading scholars of Renaissance literature, died at his home in Santa Barbara, California, on April 26 of pancreatic cancer. Helgerson was a professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, an institution at which he had taught since 1970. A memorial service will be held at the UCSB Faculty Club from 4-6 P.M. on Friday, May 23, 2008. Helgerson was the author of six important books, including an edition and translation of the French Renaissance poet Joachim Du Bellay, and more than sixty articles and reviews. His most influential publications were Self-Crowned Laureates, and Forms of Nationhood: The Elizabethan Writing of England. Published in 1993, Forms of Nationhood won multiple scholarly awards, including the British Council Prize for the best book in any area of British studies and the Modern Language Association James Russell Lowell prize for the best book in any area of literary studies. This book in particular established Helgerson's international reputation as one of the leading Renaissance scholars of his generation. Helgerson, who was recalled by colleagues for "humility, generosity, and grace" and for the "de ep humanity" of his scholarship, was the recipient of many grants including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, a University of California President's Fellowship, and awards from the Folger and Huntington Libraries. In 1998 he was chosen Faculty Research Lecturer at UCSB, the highest scholarly honor the campus can bestow, and in 2005 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Spenser Society. According to one colleague, he was "one of the most distinguished scholars ever to have taught in the humanities at UCSB." Helgerson was chair of the UCSB English Department from 1989 to 1993 and served in other important administrative and consultative roles in the university and the scholarly profession at large. He was particularly noted as a mentor to graduate students. Diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer in 2005, Helgerson immediately launched a new scholarly project. Completed within a year, A Sonnet From Carthage has been hailed as "beautif ul," an "elegantly crafted scholarly and critical essay." Helgerson was born August 22, 1940, in Pasadena, California, where he attended school. He graduated from the University of California, Riverside, in 1963 with a B.A. in English. From 1964 to 1966 he served in the Peace Corps in Atakpame, Togo. He received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in 1970, after which he joined the faculty at UCSB as an assistant professor, advancing to full professor in 1982. Helgerson is survived by his wife of more than 40 years, Marie-Christine Helgerson, who is well-known in France as the author of novels for children; by their daughter, Jessica Helgerson, a "green" interior designer based in Portland, Oregon, and her husband Yianni Doulis, an architect; by two grandchildren, Max and Penelope; and by his sister Jan Ondeck, of Walnut Creek, California. Memorial gifts may be made to the UCSB Foundation and indicated for the "English Department Richard Helgerson Achievement Award Fund".