Raymond Klibansky

I learned yesterday that the philosopher and historian Raymond Klibansky died on August 5th at the age of 99 in his adopted home of Montreal, where he was the John Frothingham Emeritus Professor of Logic & Metaphysics at McGill University.  I'm having trouble finding any English language webpages to link to on him, which is a shame, since his life, as the description of a Canadian documentary, Raymond Klibansky: De la philosophie à la vie, states, constituted a veritable microcosm of the 20th century.  Since I can't just paste and link, I'll try to give the basics as best I can, though I can't vouch for every detail (some of the information below was borrowed from this obituary in French, I hope more or less correctly.)  Born to German-Jewish parents in Paris in 1905, at 17 he began studies at the University of Heidelberg, where Marianne Weber, the widow of Max, asked for his help in correcting the text of her late husband's Economy and Society.  He would study under Karl Jaspers, Ernst Cassirer, and Ferdinand Tönnies, the last experience enabling him to joke that he was but "two handshakes" from Marx.  With an academic career impossible because of the Nazi regime and an increasingly dangerous situation developing, Klibansky left Germany, arriving at Oxford in 1933.  He would spend the war working for the British secret service.

Klibansky had been exposed to the scholars surrounding Aby Warburg and the Institute which bears his name in Germany, and his association with them deepened in England.  Klibansky's scholarship on Plato in the Middle Ages and his work editing the writings of Nicholas of Cusa, among many other publications, testify to his longstanding investigation of the classical tradition to which the Warburg Institute remains dedicated.  Saturn and Melancholy: Studies in the Natural History of Philosophy, Religion, and Art, which he coauthored with Erwin Panofsky and Fritz Saxl, stands as his best-known work among those in the arts (or, at least, to me.)  The book, an expanded version of the latter pair's earlier text on Durer's Melancholia I, remains among the finest examples of the sort of esoteric history of ideas and culture with which the the pioneers of the Warburg Institute earned their fame.

But Klibansky never abandoned more current concerns, directing a survey of contemporary European philosophy and writing on topics such as tolerance and democracy.  The range of his work, as the description of a festschrift for him notes, gave another meaning to a phrase from Nicholas of Cusa: una veritas in variis signis resplendet - roughly, one truth shines in different forms.  Grief is not the appropriate emotion for those of us beyond actual acquaintance with the man, especially given that his death comes at the end of such a fulfilled life.  But it's worth taking the time to realize what made it so rich and to become more deeply acquainted with his work.  After that, one's best wishes go out to his family and friends.

Comments

[jstheater]

What a marvelous writeup, JL. The Latin quote captures, I think, a tradition that has been increasingly lost, both in academe in general, and among the scholarly community in the humanities. I'll be looking for Klibansky's work.

[JL]

Thanks. I should note that, while I was familiar with Klibansky's work to some extent (especially Saturn and Melancholy and his essays on medieval Neoplatonism), most of the details, and the Latin quote, were gleaned from the French sources to which I linked.

I think that the Latin may come from Nicholas of Cusa's writings on the Koran - though I don't know for sure. If so, it seems even more distant from where we are. Though the same was probably true when it was first written.

[Laurie O'Broin]

JL,
Thank you so much for writing something about Raymond in English. I am his great-niece and live in England and like you I have had some difficulty in reading the obituries and commentaries I have found. My French is not what it was. I have been printing websites to send to my Grandmother, Sonja (Raymond's sister) as she is not on the internet and I know she like I, is overjoyed to see how far and wide his influence spread within his lifetime.

I have very fond memories of Raymond, he always listened to me as if what I had to say was important (even when I was small 8 year old girl) and he was fascinating to listen to and inspired me in my life throughout my early years with my studies and my love of the world.

He passed away peacefully at home with his wife and I do not believe there is a better way to go than that. If he inspires us all to do more with our lives then I believe he has left a great legacy.

Best wishes

Laurie O'Broin

[JL]

Hi Laurie,

Thank you so much for writing. I am very sorry for your family's loss. I am happy, though, to hear you have such good memories of him. The kind and caring qualities you describe seem of a piece with the man's public's life, offering those of us who only knew his work the confirmation of what we imagined. And I agree you on his life and the manner of its ending; little could be better. Best wishes,

[wendy scott]

Raymond Klibansky taught an undergraduate course in political philosophy during my years at McGill University (1949-1953). He was truly an inspiring teacher, interested in what his students had to say (while trying to hide his frustration at the little background most of them brought to his class) . . . I only remember how he encouraged me in my writing of the essays he assigned. He did what a university education is supposed to do: he opened our minds. He visited the National Library of Canada in Ottawa many years later, and was the same alert, interested person I remembered. I do hope that his death will be noticed by more people than it has to date. He was a remarkable man.

[Bev C.]

Laurie, sorry for your familys loss.
I read a good english obit in the globe and mail.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050905/OBKLIBLAN05/TPObituaries/?query=saturn

Its probably going to be a free read only for a few more days before going into the archives.

Im curious if he got into astrological studies as any competent astrologer knows of the connection between Saturn and depression, and at times,...mental illness. Does anyone know if this was touched on in his writings? Being he taught courses in metaphysics..possibly so,
Thanks
Bev

[John C.]

I am really very happy to see that some people actually care about the passing of a very important and influential thinker. Raymond Klibanski was a beacon of light and hope. I did not know him but some of my professors from mcgil did and had nothing but admiration and respect for him. His love of philosophy, from what they have told me, was only surpassed by his love for humanity.

Bev, Raymond did know quite a bit about the connection between saturn and depression. His book with Saxl and Panofsky, Saturn and Melancholy, is about this connection. They trace it from Aristotle, Greek, Arab and medieval latin humural medicine, astrology and psychology all the way up into the renaissance, with Ficino and Duhrer. It is actually a phenomenal and ground breaking work in the history of ideas.

On that note, if anybody has or knows where to get a copy of that book, in english or in french, I would be very interested.
Thanks
John C.

[Marty Newman]

Hi,
Since finding Couliano's EROS AND MAGIC and then Ficino, I've been unsuccessfully hunting for a copy of SATURN AND MELANCHOLY.
Can anyone out there in cyberspace help me?
Thanks,
Marty

[Rose Constantine]

I have access to a copy of SATURN AND MELANCHOLY in English, because it was translated by my mother Frances Lobb. It's one of her most precious possessions, so she wouldn't part with it, but I'm sure she would be happy to let anyone who is interested read it, if you are visiting London.
Best wishes
Rose