Vera Lachmann

Vera Lachmann (June 23, 1904 – 1985) was a German poet, classicist and educator. After founding a school for Jewish children in Nazi Germany, she emigrated to the United States in 1939 and established Camp Catawba, a summer camp for boys.

Early life in Germany

Lachmann was born in 1904 in

In 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler assumed power in Germany, Lachmann founded a private school for children of Jewish and Jewish-Christian parents who had been expelled from public schools.^[1] The school, which was held on the property of Lachmann's relatives, was closed by Nazi officials shortly after Kristallnacht in 1938.^[2]

Emigration to the United States

Lachmann left Germany for the United States in November 1939, assisted by friends in both countries.^[2] She worked at Vassar College's German department until 1941,^[1] and subsequently taught at Salem College for two years, Bryn Mawr College for one year, and Yale University for two years.^[2] She also held brief positions at the City College of New York and Brooklyn College.^[1] Castrum Peregrini Press published three volumes of her poetry, which were heavily influenced by Ancient Greek literature, in both German and (translated) English.^[2]

In 1944, Lachmann founded

Lachmann's life partner was Tui St. George Tucker, an American composer whom Lachmann met in 1946 when Tucker began working as a music instructor at Camp Catawba.^[1]

Death

Lachmann died in January 1985 at

Further reading

• Miller, Charles (ed.) (2004). Homer's Sun Still Shines: Ancient Greece in Essays, Poems and Translations by Vera Lachmann. Trackaday.
  ISBN 0-9606522-3-X
  .