In Memoriam: Kurt Jonassohn
Concordia lost an old friend with the passing of leading educator and researcher Kurt Jonassohn on December 1.
Born in Germany in 1920, Jonassohn considered himself “one of the lucky ones” to have escaped the Holocaust. He worked in Montreal during the war, and afterwards as a cutter in the clothing industry.
While taking evening courses at Sir George Williams University (SGWU) the die was cast: studying "turned out to be more fun than cutting and that's how I got into academia." He graduated from SGWU in 1953, earned a master’s at McGill University in 1955, and proceeded to the University of Chicago for doctoral studies.
From 1959 to ‘61 he worked as research sociologist at RCA. headquarters in Ottawa, before joining the Department of Sociology at SGWU where he became full professor in 1972. He retired in 1989 but his love for teaching prompted him to continue part-time until 1996.
He taught, mentored and conducted research at Concordia University for 35 years. Jonassohn collaborated closely with professor Frank Chalk. The pair made many inroads into genocide studies, a relatively new field of study within sociology, and co-founded the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS).
Chalk wrote in an email informing colleagues of Jonassohn’s passing, “Still sharp of mind when he died at the age of 91, Kurt set a high standard for scholarship and expected the most from researchers working to understand the causes of genocide and its prevention. He was an inspiration and a mentor to many of us and he will be missed.”
Donations in his memory may be made to the Jonassohn Genocide Collection at Concordia University by calling 514-848-2424, ext. 3884, or to the Jonassohn Family Foundation, care of the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, 514-340-8251.
On Jonassohn’s request, his former student and friend sociologist Roberta Hamilton wrote a touching obituary. It appeared in the Gazette of Saturday, December 3.
Related links:
• Gazette obituary
• Gazette obituary on MIGS