Jack Kolbert (B.A., French, ’49), 78, died last September. A professor of modern and classical languages, Kolbert spoke French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Over his career, he was a college professor or department chair on 13 American and French campuses. While teaching at the University of New Mexico, Kolbert also served as the first president of the Albuquerque City Council during the transition to a districted City Council mayor system.

While at UNM, Kolbert met Elie Wiesel, the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Their 30-year-plus friendship resulted in Kolbert writing The Worlds of Elie Wiesel: An Overview of His Career and His Major Themes (Associated University Presses, 2001).  

According to Kolbert, Wiesel ought to be regarded as the most representative voice of the Jewish people of the world today as well as the most articulate voice of the Holocaust survivors from the Nazi era. Kolbert escorted his Susquehanna University honor students to Wiesel’s home in New York for one-on-one discussions.  

In addition to 10 books, Kolbert wrote hundreds of essays on French literature, culture and civilization and received the French Knight of the National Order of Merit on three occasions.