Obituary: Robert E. Taylor, former head of Romance Languages

Robert E. Taylor, 93, of Amherst, professor emeritus and former head of the Department of Romance languages, died Feb. 27 in Northampton.

 

Born in Portland, Ore., he earned his B.A. in French from Reed College in 1943 and his master’s degree and doctorate from Columbia University, specializing in 18th-century literature.

He served in World War II as a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corps, stationed in the South Pacific.

Before joining the faculty in 1963 as professor and head of the Department of Romance Languages, he was an associate professor at New York University and an instructor at Columbia.

 

He retired in 1990 but taught part-time for another year.

 

In 1967, Taylor was awarded a knighthood in the French government’s Order of the Academic Palms for services rendered to French culture. He retired in 1989.

He leaves his second wife, Olga (Zazuliak) and their daughter, Anne-Marie Taylor.