Public lecture explores work of Irene Nemirovsky

Susan Rubin Suleiman
Susan Rubin Suleiman

A public lecture presented by the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies on May 24 will host guest speaker Professor Susan Rubin Suleiman (Harvard University) to discuss the work of author Irène Némirovsky.

The event, “The Afterlife of Irène Némirofsky’s Suite Française”, will take place in the Schulich School of Business with a reception at 6:30pm and the lecture beginning at 7:30pm.

The publication of Irène Némirovsky’s posthumous bestseller Suite Française in 2004, more than 60 years after the author’s death in Auschwitz, has acquired an almost legendary status.

Suleiman will discuss the reality behind the legend, and outline the ways in which Némirovsky’s “rebirth” as an author after being forgotten for many years, transformed the lives of her daughters and others descendants.

Suleiman is the C. Douglas Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France and professor of comparative literature at Harvard University. Renowned for her work on contemporary French literature, Holocaust literary memory, and women’s studies, her books include the memoir Budapest Diary: In Search of the Motherbook and Crises of Memory and the Second World War, and a forthcoming book on Irène Némirovksy.

Parking passes to the Student Services Parking Structure will be available at the event.

Register at suitefrancaise.eventbrite.ca or at 416-736-5823.