Marilyn Yalom

Marilyn Yalom (March 10, 1932 – November 20, 2019) was an American feminist author and historian. She was a senior scholar at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University, and a professor of French.^[1][2] She served as the institute's director from 1984 to 1985.^[3] Prior to teaching at Stanford, Yalom taught at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and California State University Hayward (now known as California State University, East Bay).^[4]

Marilyn Yalom
Born	March 10, 1932 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died	November 20, 2019(2019-11-20) (aged 87) Palo Alto, California, United States
Nationality	American
Spouse	Irvin Yalom
Children	4
Academic background
Alma mater	Wellesley College, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University
Academic work
Discipline	History, Feminism, French studies, Comparative Literature
Institutions	Stanford University, University of Hawaiʻi, California State University, East Bay

Life and work

Yalom received her BA in French from Wellesley College in 1954, her MA in French and German from Harvard University in 1956, and her PhD in Comparative Literature from Johns Hopkins University in 1963.^[4]

Marilyn Yalom's scholarly publications include Blood Sisters (1993), A History of the Breast (1997),^[5] A History of the Wife (2001),^[6] Birth of the Chess Queen (2004),^[7] The American Resting Place (2008) with photos by Reid Yalom, and How the French Invented Love (2012). Her books have been translated into 20 languages.

In addition to her text, The American Resting Place contains a portfolio of 64 black and white art photos taken by her son Reid Yalom. Marilyn Yalom was presented with a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly "honoring extraordinary leadership in the literary arts and continued commitment to ensuring the quality of reading" via the book The American Resting Place: Four Hundred Years of History, "thereby benefiting the people of the City and County of San Francisco and the State of California."^[3]

Her book, How the French Invented Love, was short-listed for the Phi Beta Kappa Gauss literary award and for the American Library in Paris book award, in 2013. Yalom was decorated by the French government as an Officer des Palmes Academiques in 1991, and she received an Alumnae Achievement Award from Wellesley College in 2013.^[3]

She was married to the psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom.^[8]

She died on November 20, 2019, from multiple myeloma,^[9] a form of cancer that affects the bone marrow.

Awards and honors

• 2013 American Library in Paris Book Award, shortlisted for How the French Invented Love^[10]

Works

• Maternity, Mortality, and the Literature of Madness (1985).^[11]
• Blood Sisters: The French Revolution in Women's Memory (1993).
• A History of the Breast (1997).^[12]
• A History of the Wife (2001).
• Birth of the Chess Queen (2004).
• The American Resting Place: Four Hundred Years of History (2008). ISBN 978-0618624270
• How the French Invented Love (2012).
• The Social Sex: A History of Female Friendship (2015).
• Compelled to Witness: Women's Memoirs of the French Revolution (2015).
• The Amorous Heart: An Unconventional History of Love (2018).
• A Matter of Death and Life with her husband (2021).

References

1. Yalom, Marilyn. "Marilyn Yalom". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
2. "Marilyn Yalom". HarperCollins US. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
3. "Marilyn Yalom. Senior Scholar. Clayman Institute Director, 1984–1985". Gender.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
4. Seelye, Katharine Q. (27 November 2019). "Marilyn Yalom, Feminist Author and Historian, is Dead at 87". The New York Times.
5. McClurg, Jocelyn (1997-05-07). "Mixed Messages: Women's Breasts are both 'Good' (as in Nurturing) and 'Bad' (as in Cancer)--Not to Mention being a Draw to the Opposite Sex. A New Book Traces their History, as Well as Women's Ambivalence Toward them". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
6. Rubin, Merle (2001-02-12). "An Uxorial View of Marriage in Western Culture". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
7. Shahade, Jennifer (2004-04-25). "How a Royal Changed the Game". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
8. Washington Weaver (2010). The Alliterating Philosopher: Philosophy Can Be Phun. p. 52. Marilyn Yalom is married to the twentieth century's most influential American psychotherapist whose name is Dr. Irvin Yalom.
9. Seelye, Katharine Q. (27 November 2019). "Marilyn Yalom, Feminist Author and Historian, Is Dead at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
10. "The American Library in Paris Book Award Shortlist" Archived 2013-12-04 at the Wayback Machine. The American Library in Paris Book Award Archived 2013-03-12 at the Wayback Machine. The American Library in Paris. September 2013.
11. Beyette, Beverly (1986-07-20). "Exploring Link between Madness and Motherhood in Women Writers: Researcher Maintains Social Constraints are Not to Blame WRITERS: Link between Madness, Maternity". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
12. Lawner, Lynne (1997-02-16). "Anatomy Lessons". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved 2024-11-18.

External links

• Oral History with Marilyn Yalom, Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 1987.