HUGH NIBLEY AT CLAREMONT

HUGH NIBLEY AT CLAREMONT After Hugh Nibley received his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1938 and until he joined the Army in 1942, he taught at the Claremont colleges. It was a time of great transitions for Hugh. He began his Claremont tenure with anti-Semitic attitudes (ironic given his own Jewish ancestry) but left with a deep respect for all things Jewish. He began at Claremont an eager academic; he left with a deep cynicism toward intellectual life. He began at Claremont with a deep love for Germany (having served his LDS mission to Germany only eight years earlier); after teaching with many Jewish-German emigres, he left with a distrust for Germany. Still Hugh Nibley’s attitudes toward war, wealth, and the environment were present even then. And his devotion to the Mormon church was just as strong.

Boyd Jay Petersen