Simon Collier, professor of history, died Feb. 20 at Alive Hospice in Nashville after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 64.
Collier, a native of England, completed his undergraduate and postgraduate work in history at the University of Cambridge in England and was a faculty member at the University of Essex in England from 1965 to 1991. In 1991, Collier joined Vanderbilt where he served as director of the Center for Latin American Studies from 1993 to 1996, and was chair of the Department of History from 1996 to 2000.
The author of more than a dozen books and approximately 40 articles and essays, Collier was fluent in French and Spanish. He has researched in the field of Chilean history, and has written extensively on the Argentinean dance, the Tango.
"Simon Collier was one of the world’s leading authorities on Latin-American popular music, in particular, the Tango," said Marshall C. Eakin, chair of the Department of History. "His works on Chilean and Argentine history span four decades and are widely read in Europe, the United States and Latin America."
For his work documenting Chile’s cultural heritage Collier was named Comendador of the Order of Bernardo O’ Higgins, Republic of Chile, an honor reserved for non-Chileans who have made a significant contribution to Chilean life. He was one of the guests of honor March 24, 2000 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when Argentina’s then President Fernando De la Rúa inaugurated a statue of the tango singer Carlos Gardel. Collier, author of a best-selling biography of the singer, had served on the executive committee of the commission sponsoring the new monument since 1994.
Collier’s remains will be cremated and spread in the gardens at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge.
Eakin said plans were under way for a memorial service to take place on the Vanderbilt campus in the coming weeks.
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This article posted from the Vanderbilt Daily Register