Home| A Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Professor Alan Deyermond was held at 2pm on Friday 29 January 2010 in The Octagon, Mile End Road Campus. Tribute by Professor David Hook Tribute by Professor Ralph Penny |
September 2009
It is with great sorrow that the department of Hispanic Studies at Queen Mary, University of London announces the death of Professor Alan Deyermond on Saturday, 19 September 2009. This is a great loss for hispanists and medievalists in the UK and abroad, to whom he provided inspiration by example.
A leading name in the field of hispanomedievalism, where he was active for over half a century, Alan's work covered most areas of medieval Spanish literature. He was an internationally acclaimed speaker and scholar in his field and received numerous accolades during his distinguished career, the latest being his election as a Corresponding Fellow of the Real Academia Española. He founded the Medieval Hispanic Research Seminar in 1967 and was its director until his retirement in 1997. The Seminar started as an series of meetings where postgraduates could present and discuss their work but it soon changed. Now in its 42nd year, the Seminar has become the leading forum for Hispanic Medieval research in the United Kingdom and Alan's leadership helped forge its strong links with scholars abroad, in particular, Spain. He was also founding General Editor of the Papers of the Medieval Hispanic Research Seminar, a book series launched in 1995 that has published already some sixty volumes that include monographs, edited texts and collections of articles.
Alan spent his entire career at the Department of Hispanic Studies in Westfield College, which later merged with Queen Mary College to form Queen Mary, University of London. He played a leading role in the establishment and growth of this department, as well as in the College. From 1986 to 1989, he was Vice-Principal of Westfield College. Following his retirement in 1997, he continued to play a very active role as Research Professor.
Alan was an exceptionally gifted scholar and teacher. In the course of his career, he gave generously of his time to support colleagues and students in numerous ways. He will be greatly missed by us all.
