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www.lfnyalumni.org 
Association of the Lycée Francais de New York
" Eléonore M. Zimmermann ('49) informed us that her good friend Alix (Hamburger) Deguise ('43) passed away. Eléonore wrote: "Alix, who had a truly remarkable career worth mentioning in your newsletter, was a friend, a person I was very fond of and admired." Eléonore sent us this notice from a Connecticut newspaper (notes in brackets are hers):
"Alix Sophie Deguise, 79, of Niantic, passed away on Thursday, July 29, 2004, a few hours after her husband [Pierre Emile Deguise, a distinguished 19th century scholar and a specialist in Benjamin Constant, who was born in 1915, and who served in the French army and in the Resistance] succumbed as well at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London.
Alix S. Deguise, née Hamburger, was born in Paris on Jan. 24, 1925, the daughter of Maurice Hamburger, deceased in 1938, and Helena Gerzon Hamburger, whose father founded Gerzon department stores in the Netherlands, and whose mother, Sophia Gerzon, died in the concentration camp at Sobibor.
Alix was raised in France and came to New York as a refugee with her mother and brother in 1940. A heroic Portuguese consul, A. de Sousa Mendes, was instrumental in the success of their escape from occupied Europe by providing visas to enter into Portugal from where they could take the boat to the USA.
She attended the Lycée Français of New York. At the age of 18 she decided to leave Smith College in order to join the Corps of Charles de Gaulle's Voltaires Français in London, was trained as a civil affairs officer and was attached to the British Army as a Liaison officer. She landed in Normandy on D-Day+24 and was immediately set to work in the vast relief and evacuation work for the cities of Caen, Boulogne, and Calais in France. She was sent to the liberated south of Holland and then to Germany. Her team received citations from the second Canadian Corps of the 1st British Army for their relief work and for the repatriation of French prisoners of war. She helped to provide care to the survivors of concentration camps, Bergen-Belsen among them, where many of her own relatives had perished.
Alix received a Masters of Arts degree in English from the University of Aix-en-Provence, France. She later obtained a Doctorat des Lettres from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. For 20 years Alix taught French literature and civilization at Connecticut College. With her friend and colleague, Jane Torey, she created the Women's Studies programs that she helped coordinate.
Her publications include a biography, articles and four critical editions of French 18th century novels. She belonged to the American Society for 18th-Century Studies and European 18th-Century Associations in the Netherlands, France and Switzerland. She lectured in the U.S. and overseas. A member of the Fondation de la France Libre, she served on its executive board in New York City.
Alix and her husband ..... were active volunteers for Amnesty International, first as caseworkers then on the urgent appeals. She was a volunteer for both the American Cancer Society and Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London for 15 years.
Alix married Pierre Emile Deguise of Autun, France, in 1948, who passed away a few hours before her on the same day at the age of 89. [He was Professor of French at the University of Connecticut for many years before retiring].
Alix is survived by her son, Jacques J. Deguise of Bordeaux-Merignac, France, her daughter, Hélène J. Deguise, of Wassenaar, Netherlands, and her partner, Emile Wolff; her son Philippe E. Deguise, and his wife, Barbara Bennett..." Laloup laurent le mercredi 19 mars 2008 Contribution au livre ouvert de Alix Sophie Hamburger épouse Deguise | |
