In Memoriam: Simon Barenbaum
Simon Barenbaum, professor emeritus of French, died on November 18, 2023, in Milford, Mass. He was 97 years old. For over two decades, Barenbaum inspired faculty and students with his love of French language, culture, and annual theater productions that transformed the department.
“Simon contributed immeasurably to French life at Middlebury with an annual theater production, in the classroom, and at the French language tables in the dining room of the Château,” said Elliot Polebaum ’72, who was a junior when Barenbaum arrived as a visiting professor. “He was empathetic, always had a kind word for the students, and showed real interest in how we were managing. I will not forget his sweet and welcoming manner and the soulful look in his expressive eyes, which I think must have reflected the difficult experiences that he and his family endured in France during World War II. May his memory be a blessing.”
Born in 1926 in Latvia, where his parents were traveling actors in the Yiddish theater, Barenbaum grew up primarily in Paris, turning 14 there when the Nazi occupation began in 1940. His older brother, Kadia, was ordered to report to the French police and never returned home. In 1942, Barenbaum and his family were about to be deported from a transit camp when a friend told authorities they worked for him making fur coats and boots for the Nazis, allowing them to return to Paris.
By age 16, Simon joined a group of Jewish Boy Scouts who made false ID cards, including some for his family that enabled them to move to the south of France. In August of 1944, Barenbaum offered to help American paratroopers who landed in the area in hopes it would hasten liberation. He participated in several missions that gave the Americans an advantage and prevented further attacks.
After the war, Barenbaum and his family moved back to Paris where he studied at the Sorbonne. They moved to the United States in 1950 to fulfill Barenbaum’s dream of teaching French. He earned his PhD at Brown University where he became professor of French, eventually accepting a professorship at Oberlin College in 1956 to teach French language and literature.
Drawn to its strong language programs, Barenbaum came to Middlebury in 1970 as a visiting professor of French. He became a full professor with tenure the following year and was also appointed an Old Dominion Foundation Professor. He immediately infused theater into the program, directing students in French plays that enhanced their cultural understanding and improved their linguistic ability.
“Simon brought a real sense of theater to the French Department, showing students they could use their French on stage, even in major classical plays, and later in improvisation,” said Edward C. Knox, professor emeritus of French. “In fact, he discovered and developed the Hepburn Zoo Theatre (a black box theater for students interested in staging their own productions), as an intimate dramatic space. He was unique among us and a jewel of our profession.”
Barenbaum was known for his experiential learning assignments long before the term was popular, including a project to create “Vous Allez à Montréal?”—a free travel guide in French offering walking tours and other visitor information. The guide was updated annually by students in his winter term course after immersive trips to Montreal.
Nancy M. O’Connor, Lois B. Watson Professor Emerita of French, recalls Barenbaum and his wife, Ruth, who died in 2022, as gracious hosts when she moved to Middlebury in 1978. She called Barenbaum the “most active and reliable initiator of Francophone extracurricular activities for students and faculty in the department.”
“He was always eager to share his love of France and its culture with both colleagues and students, often coming to our classes to read French stories, conduct sing-alongs in French, or speak of his experiences in France during the occupation,” said O’Connor. “As a teacher, his classes included French language at all levels, as well as courses on contemporary France and French classical theater. Simon led a remarkable life before he ever came to the states, and he led several more remarkable lives afterwards. I knew him as an extraordinarily kind, generous, proud but unpretentious man, and a dear friend for a very long time.”
Following his retirement from Middlebury in 1992, Barenbaum worked to promote Francophone culture in northern Vermont; cofounded the Alliance Française of Vermont—Cercle Quebecois (renamed AFLCR in 2002); initiated “Les Boulangers,” a French conversation group that met weekly in Bristol and still meets in Middlebury; and edited French newsletters.