Gerard Campagna

 

 

 

Throughout his life, Gerard Campagna (1911-1988) had a passion for education and a love for fine books. Born in Berlin, New Hampshire, he progressed quickly through school, completing his undergraduate work at Assumption College. He pursued graduate studies at Columbia University between 1934 and 1937 where he graduated with a Masters degree in French. During this period, he also attended the Universite de Paris, earning a diploma as a part of the Masters program.

Returning to his hometown, Campagna taught high school French until drafted to serve in World War II. He was enrolled in Officer Candidate School before leaving for Europe, serving first in England, then in France. While abroad, he married his wife, Suzanne, in Paris in 1945.

Campagna was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1946, whereupon he returned to the United States to teach at the University of Massachusetts at Fort Devens. He remained there three years, lecturing in both French Literature and European History while pursuing a PhD at Boston University. He returned to Paris in 1950 on a Fullbright Scholarship and conducted his doctoral research on the foreign policy of the Turkish Republic. He was awarded his PhD in history in 1952.

While in Paris, he continued his education, auditing course at both L’Ecole Nationale des Orientals and L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques. He held a U.S. government position as an historian from 1952 until his retirement in 1970. Dr. Campagna died in Washington, D.C. in 1988.