Felicia Gressitt Bock
Felicia Gressitt Bock | |
---|---|
Born | Felicia Ray Gressitt October 28, 1916 Tokyo, Japan |
Died | December 29, 2011 (age 95) Oakland, California, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Translator, scholar |
Notable work | annotated translation of the Engishiki (1970–1972) |
Children | 3, including Audie Bock |
Relatives | Judson Linsley Gressitt (brother), Earle Gorton Linsley (cousin) |
Felicia Ray Gressitt Bock (October 28, 1916 – December 29, 2011)[1] was an American scholar and translator of Japanese folklore and history. She helped launch the Japanese Historical Text Initiative at Berkeley, and is best known for her two-volume translation of the Engishiki, a civil code from Engi-era Japan.
Early life and education
[edit]Gressitt was born in Tokyo, Japan, the daughter of James Fullerton Gressitt and Edna Eunice Linsley Gressitt. She was raised in Japan, where her parents were American Baptist missionaries.[2][3] Her brother Judson Linsley Gressitt, her uncle Earle Garfield Linsley[4][5] and her cousin Earle Gorton Linsley were all noted scientists.[6][7]
Gressitt graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1936 with an undergraduate honors thesis titled "The scientific knowledge of the Romans from the earliest times to the Augustan age".[8] Later, she earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. in East Asian languages from the University of California.[9] Her dissertation was titled ""Engi-shiki: Ceremonial Procedures of the Engi Era, 901-922" (1966).[10]
Career
[edit]Bock worked at the Library of Congress during World War II, and did translation work for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).[11] She taught a course in Japanese culture for the University of California Extension in the 1960s.[11][12] Her collection of Japanese fans was exhibited in Alameda in 1975.[13] She was active in the Seven College Council of the East Bay.[14] She provided a grant to help launch the Japanese Historical Text Initiative at Berkeley,[15] and endowed a professorship at Mount Holyoke College, known as the Felicia Gressitt Bock Chair in Asian Studies.[9] In 2003, she gave an oral history interview to the League of Women Voters of Berkeley.[16]
Publications
[edit]- "Elements in the Development of Japanese Folk Song" (1948)[17]
- "Japanese Children's Songs" (1949)[18]
- "Songs of Japanese Workers" (1949)[19]
- Engishiki: Procedures of the Engi era, Books I-X (2 vol., 1970 and 1972, translated by Bock)[20]
- "The Rites of Renewal at Ise" (1974)[21]
- "The Great Feast of the Enthronement" (1990)[22]
Personal life and legacy
[edit]Gressitt married Austrian-born accountant Charles Kurt Bock in Japan in 1940. They had children Audie,[23] James, and Linsley, and lived in Berkeley, California.[24] Her husband died in 2004, and she died in 2011, at the age of 95, in Oakland, California.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Birth and death dates from the U.S. Social Security Death Index, via Ancestry.
- ^ "Gressitt's Funeral Held in Tokyo". The Evening Sun. 1945-11-29. pp. 38, 32. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
- ^ "Missionary Visits Native Baltimore; Fullerton Gressitt Has Served in Japan for Period of 30 Years". The Baltimore Sun. 1938-01-03. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Huge Telescope at Observatory Open to Public". Oakland Tribune. 1925-08-03. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Sheehan, William (2018-01-31). "John E. Westfall (1938–2018)". Bulletin of the AAS. 50 (1).
- ^ "Ex-UC scholar, wife, die in China crash". The Berkeley Gazette. 1982-04-28. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Funeral Rites Held for Mrs. Gressitt". Oakland Tribune. 1943-03-02. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Gressitt, Felicia R. (1936). The scientific knowledge of the Romans from the earliest times to the Augustan age. Undergraduate honors thesis, Mount Holyoke College.
- ^ a b "People". Daily Hampshire Gazette. 2006-04-03. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dissertations". East Asian Languages + Culture, University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
- ^ a b "Program on 'Women of Japan'". Concord Transcript. 1964-03-10. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'A Morning with Extension' is Planned on Wednesday". Daily Independent Journal. 1967-02-23. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Gallery has Japanese doll exhibit". The Berkeley Gazette. 1975-02-28. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Seven College Council Sets Benefit". The Independent. 1961-11-08. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "About Us". Japanese Historical Text Initiative. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
- ^ "Interview with Felicia G. Bock" (2003), Berkeley Historical Society, via Online Archive of California.
- ^ Bock, Felicia G. (1948). "Elements in the Development of Japanese Folk Song". Western Folklore. 7 (4): 356–369. doi:10.2307/1497841. ISSN 0043-373X. JSTOR 1497841.
- ^ Bock, Felicia G. (1949). "Japanese Children's Songs". Western Folklore. 8 (4): 328–341. doi:10.2307/1496151. ISSN 0043-373X. JSTOR 1496151.
- ^ Bock, Felicia G. (1949). "Songs of Japanese Workers". Western Folklore. 8 (3): 202–218. doi:10.2307/1497921. ISSN 0043-373X. JSTOR 1497921.
- ^ English, Engishiki (1970). Engi-shiki: Procedures of the Engi Era, Translated by Felicia Gressitt Bock.
- ^ Bock, Felicia G. (1974). "The Rites of Renewal at Ise". Monumenta Nipponica. 29 (1): 55–68. doi:10.2307/2383463. ISSN 0027-0741. JSTOR 2383463.
- ^ Bock, Felicia G. (1990). "The Great Feast of the Enthronement". Monumenta Nipponica. 45 (1): 27–38. doi:10.2307/2384496. ISSN 0027-0741. JSTOR 2384496.
- ^ "Full Biography for Audie Elizabeth Bock". League of Women Voters of California. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
- ^ "Art Show Preview; 8-College Alumnae Event". The Berkeley Gazette. 1962-05-03. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-03-04 – via Newspapers.com.