Title: Jean
and Gustav Hübener Fonds. -- 1908-1975; predominant 1930-1950.
-- 3.31 m. of textual material; 222 b&w photographs, 15 col. photographs,
5 negatives.
Biographical
Sketch: Jean Isabel (Hamilton) Hübener.
Jean
Isabel Hamilton was born on August 15, 1904 in Jarrahdale, Australia.
She was one of six children, including four brothers: Len, Harry, Herb
and Jack, and a sister Gladys Thelma. She received her Bachelor of Arts
at the University of Western Australia in 1927 with first class Honours
in Languages. Upon graduating, Hamilton was awarded the Orient
Travelling Scholarship, and the Winthrop Hackett Scholarship. Also,
she was the first Australian to receive the prestigious Alexander von
Humboldt Scholarship, which covered her expenses at any German University
for 3-4 years. Hamilton chose to attend the University of Bonn, where
she studied Philosophy, French, German, Art History and Music. This
lead to a PhD magna cum laude in 1931, in the field of Mediaeval
German and French. The subject of her dissertation was The role
of the landscape in German and French mediaeval courtly epics. Her
work has been regarded as a standard in its field.
Upon graduating, Hamilton
spent some time in Australia, and then returned to the University of Bonn
in 1932, where she accepted a teaching position in the English Department.
When the Hitler government came into power, however, Hamilton decided that
she could not acquiesce in the educational methods laid down by its representatives.
Consequently, Hamilton combined private tutoring and translation of scientific
and other documents with research on the literature of the British Dominions.
She did this in collaboration with Dr. Frederick Gustav Hübener,
who was the Head of the English Department at the University of Bonn at
that time.
In 1937, after Dr. Hübener
was prevented by the Hitler government from accepting an invitation to
lecture at Harvard University, he decided to go abroad as a voluntary exile
rather than remain in Germany. Hamilton decided to go with him, and
they both accepted positions at Mount Allison University in Sackville,
New Brunswick. Hübener took a position as Head of the German
Department, and Hamilton became a special guest lecturer in the same department.
On September 22, 1938, Gustav Hübener and Jean Hamilton were married
in Toronto.
On September 30th, 1940,
Gustav Hübener died suddenly of leukemia. Consequently, Jean
Hübener took over as Head of the German Department, and remained in
this position throughout the war years. In 1946, Dr. Hübener became
a special lecturer in English and German at Victoria College, University
of Toronto, and remained as such until 1949. At this point, she was
awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to conduct research for a book which she
planned to write concerning intellectual resistance to the Nazis.
This research took Dr. Hübener to Boston, where she remained until
University of New Brunswick President Albert Trueman persuaded her to come
to UNB in 1951.
Upon her arrival at UNB,
Dr. Hübener was appointed as a Professor of German. Largely
due to her efforts, a separate Department of German was established at
UNB the next year, for which Dr. Hübener became the first Department
Head. She presided over the department until her retirement in 1967.
Dr. Hübener was named Professor Emerita at the UNB 1975 Encaenia.
After a long illness, Jean
Isabel Hamilton Hübener passed away on January 15, 1981, and was survived
by her stepdaughter, Mrs. Irene Scott of Bethesda, her sister Gladys Thelma,
and three brothers: Leonard, Hubert and Jack.
Biographical Sketch: Frederick
Gustav Hübener.
Frederick
Gustav Hübener, son of Gustav and Emma (Hotte) Hübener, was born
in Hamburg, Germany on July 4, 1889. Although he was a student of
many universities, including Munich, Berlin, Edinburgh and Paris, he eventually
graduated in Modern Languages and Philosophy from the University of Göttingen
in 1913. It is of particular interest that during his schooling,
he studied under Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology, and was
also a member of the Göttingen Circle. In 1919, Dr. Hübener
became a Privatdozent, and his first appointment was as Professor of English
at the University of Konigsburg in 1922. In 1925, he was appointed Professor
of English at the University of Basle. In 1930, Hübener was
called to the Chair of English Language and Literature at the University
of Bonn.
Dr. Hübener remained
in this position until 1937, at which point he was prevented by the Hitler
government from accepting an invitation to lecture at Harvard University.
Rather than remain in Germany, Dr. Hübener chose to go abroad as a
voluntary exile. On the recommendation of Arnold J. Toynbee, Dr.
Hübener was granted a Carnegie Fellowship, and accepted a position
as Head of the Department of German at Mount Allison University in Sackville,
New Brunswick. Jean Isabel Hamilton, who had collaborated with Dr.
Hübener on research about the literature of the British Dominions
while they were both at the University of Bonn, accompanied him.
On September 22, 1938, Jean Hamilton and Gustav Hübener were married
in Toronto.
Throughout his career, Dr.Gustav
Hübener authored over twenty-five publications, many of which were
recognized as authoritative source books in their fields. Dr. Hübener
also became an international authority on Chaucer, and was a special lecturer
at the universities of India and Harvard Summer School. In the later stages
of his career, he also became interested in Anthropology, especially concerning
primitive cultures.
Having been unwell during
the winter of 1940, Dr. Gustav Hübener entered the hospital while
visiting Toronto in late September of that same year, but his leukemia
was too far advanced for treatment. He died suddenly on September 30th,
1940.
Scope
and Content: This fonds primarily contains material created and collected
by Dr. Jean Isabel Hübener, although there is also material created
and collected by Dr. Frederick Gustav Hübener. The nature of
the material reflects both scholars devotion to academics, particularly
evident in the extensive amount of research notes, lecture notes, academic
papers and clippings which the Hübeners collected over their lives,
the material which they had published, and the draft manuscripts for the
book which Jean Hübener worked on dealing with intellectual resistance
in Nazi Germany. Also contained in this fonds are items of a personal
nature, including photographs, biographical material, various certificates,
and financial information. Reflecting both the personal and professional
sides of the Hübeners lives is a collection of correspondence, covering
the years 1930-1975.
This fonds is divided
into 8 series:
Series:
1. Published
and Draft Papers and Addresses Written by Jean and Gustav Hübener.
-- 1919-1947; predominant 1936-1947
2. Draft
Manuscripts, Outlines and Other Material concerning Enemies of the
State. A Study of the Intellectual Resistance
in Nazi Germany. -- c. 1950-1951
3. Academic
Research Notes, Clippings and Papers. -- various dates
4. Correspondence.
-- 1930-1975
5. Biographical
Material, Official Certificates, Recommendation Letters and Other Material
of a Personal Nature. -- 1909-1975;
predominant 1927-1941
6. Photographs.
-- [c1900-1975; predominant 1926-1975]
7. Published
Material Collected by Jean and Gustav Hübener. -- 1908-1958; predominant
1930-1948
8. Miscellaneous.
-- various dates
Notes:
Title: Title is based
on name of the creators.
Immediate Source of Acquisition:
On an unknown date, the majority of this material was stored in the Harriet
Irving Library. In March, 1985, it was taken from basement of the Harriet
Irving Library to the University of New Brunswick Archives. On April 2,
1985, another small amount of material was donated by W.Y. Smith.
Arrangement: The original
state of the material necessitated an arrangement being imposed by the
archivist. Due to the cross-over in academic areas of interest between
Jean and Gustav Hübener, however, it was not possible to fully sort
or distinguish the research notes, clippings and citations that predominate
this fonds. Consequently, arrangement of these folders is arbitrary.
Language: This fonds
contains material written in both English and German.
BACK
TO CONTENTS
Document Maintained by:
UNB Archives
email address archives@unb.ca
Last Update: 2002/04/11
Jean
Isabel Hamilton was born on August 15, 1904 in Jarrahdale, Australia.
She was one of six children, including four brothers: Len, Harry, Herb
and Jack, and a sister Gladys Thelma. She received her Bachelor of Arts
at the University of Western Australia in 1927 with first class Honours
in Languages. Upon graduating, Hamilton was awarded the Orient
Travelling Scholarship, and the Winthrop Hackett Scholarship. Also,
she was the first Australian to receive the prestigious Alexander von
Humboldt Scholarship, which covered her expenses at any German University
for 3-4 years. Hamilton chose to attend the University of Bonn, where
she studied Philosophy, French, German, Art History and Music. This
lead to a PhD magna cum laude in 1931, in the field of Mediaeval
German and French. The subject of her dissertation was The role
of the landscape in German and French mediaeval courtly epics. Her
work has been regarded as a standard in its field.
Frederick
Gustav Hübener, son of Gustav and Emma (Hotte) Hübener, was born
in Hamburg, Germany on July 4, 1889. Although he was a student of
many universities, including Munich, Berlin, Edinburgh and Paris, he eventually
graduated in Modern Languages and Philosophy from the University of Göttingen
in 1913. It is of particular interest that during his schooling,
he studied under Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology, and was
also a member of the Göttingen Circle. In 1919, Dr. Hübener
became a Privatdozent, and his first appointment was as Professor of English
at the University of Konigsburg in 1922. In 1925, he was appointed Professor
of English at the University of Basle. In 1930, Hübener was
called to the Chair of English Language and Literature at the University
of Bonn.
