Volume 62, Number 18    December 19, 2014         

Chinosole
Professor Emerita of Women Studies Chinosole, born Patricia Thornton in New York July 14, 1942 -- Bastille Day, she always pointed out -- died Oct. 4 in Oakland. She earned her Ph.D. in world comparative literature from the University of Oregon, Eugene and taught throughout the U.S. and in various places in the world.

Chinosole was a proud Black nationalist who loved her time teaching in Africa and dreamed of returning. Chinosole authored African Diaspora and Autobiographics: Skeins of Self and Skin as well as many articles and was editor of Schooling the Generations in the Politics of Prison. She taught at SF State in the 1960s, served as the first Black acting dean of the College of Ethnic Studies and was a founding member of the Black Studies Department. She returned to the University in the 1980s to teach in, and later chair, the Women Studies Department.

Her work in support of prisoners, political and otherwise, mobilized and inspired many people inside and outside prison walls. Her insistent demand for the freedom of the imprisoned Black Panthers was unflinching.

Friends, colleagues and family will gather to commemorate Chinosole's life at 1 p.m. on Jan. 4 at 550 24th Street in Oakland. Read the full obituary at http://wgsdept.sfsu.edu/

Laszlo Varga
Professor Emeritus of Music Laszlo Varga died in Sarasota, Florida, following a lengthy illness. He was two days away from turning 90.

Varga escaped a Nazi labor camp in 1944 and lived in the Budapest, Hungary, ghetto. After the war, he performed as principal cellist for the Budapest Symphony until he was removed because of anti-Jewish laws. Varga came to the U.S. with the Léner Quartet and later joined the New York City Opera, where he performed two years before becoming the principal chair for the New York Philharmonic, where he played from 1951 to 1962.

He joined SF State in 1963, teaching cello and chamber music and directing the Morrison Artists Series. After retiring from the University in 1988, Varga taught at UC Santa Cruz, the University of Toronto and the University of Houston.

Varga is survived by his wife, Lillian, a daughter and two sons. Read the full obituary at www.sfcv.org/article/in-memoriam-laszlo-varga-cellist-and-inspiring-teacher

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Last modified Dec. 18, 2014 by University Communications.