Apologies for any cross-posting.
Geoff West
Hispanic
BL UK
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----- Forwarded message from Adan Griego <[log in to unmask]> -----
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 08:01:15 -0700
From: Adan Griego <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Adan Griego <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: noted linguist dead at age 97
Stanford Report, July 7, 2004
Aurelio Espinosa Jr. dead at 97
BY BARBARA PALMER
Aurelio Macedonio Espinosa Jr., 97, professor emeritus of Spanish and an
expert on Spanish linguistics and folklore, died in Palo Alto on June 4.
Espinosa, the author of widely used Spanish-language textbooks, was a
faculty member for 26 years and served as an executive head of the
Department of Modern European Languages. He retired in 1972.
Espinosa was born on May 3, 1907, in Albuquerque, N.M., and moved to Palo
Alto when his father, Aurelio Espinosa, joined the Stanford faculty in 1910.
Espinosa Jr. earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Stanford in 1927
and 1928, respectively, and a doctorate from the University of Madrid in
1932.
From 1932 until 1936, Espinosa conducted fieldwork in Spain and Portugal as
a collaborator on the Linguistic Atlas of Spain and Portugal. He also
collected folk tales in Spain, where his work was interrupted by the
outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Espinosa later taught at Harvard
University and was an instructor of Spanish, Portuguese and Russian at the
U.S. Military Academy during World War II.
Espinosa joined the faculty at Stanford in 1946, the same year that his
father retired. "He and my grandfather kind of dovetailed," said his son,
Ramon Espinosa, of Palo Alto. Aurelio Espinosa Sr. specialized in the
evolution of Spanish American folklore, collected from the American
Southwest, and also authored numerous textbooks.
His father derived equal satisfaction from research and teaching, his son
said. "On one hand, my father's real passion was linguistics and the
evolution of the Spanish dialect," said Ramon Espinosa, who recalled his
father taking down a copy of the Linguistic Atlas to show him his work. But
his father also was very pleased to have made contributions through his
textbooks and teaching to Spanish language education in the United States,
Espinosa said. "He felt it was important for people to effectively
communicate with one another" and to further communication between people in
the United States and Mexico and Latin America, he said.
In 1945, Espinosa was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Spanish
Academy. In 1995, he was inducted into the El Centro Chicano Hall of Fame,
which recognizes distinguished Stanford alumni.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Iraida Espinosa, of Palo Alto;
daughters Margarita Smith of Mount Vernon, Wash., and Maria Shipley of
Redwood City; his son; and seven grandchildren. Memorial contributions may
be sent to Knights of Columbus Council 2677, Box 515, Palo Alto, CA 94301,
or to Neighbors Abroad, Box 52004, Palo Alto, CA 94303.
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2004/july7/obit-espinosa-77.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adan Griego
Curator for Latin American,
Mexican American & Iberian Collections
Green Library-HRG
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6004
(650) 723-3150 / 725-1068 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----- End forwarded message -----
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