All of us at the Institute are saddened by the passing of Dr. Van A. Harvey,
the wonderful visiting Stanford emeritus professor who gifted us with such
great lectures on the flowering of philosophy, art, music, and culture in fin de siècle Vienna. Dr. Harvey died peacefully at home in July 2021 at the age
of 95, surrounded by his family, including sons Christopher and Jonathan,
who cared for him in his last days (many Instituters will remember his sons,
who often accompanied him to his lectures.)
Dr. Harvey was Professor of Religious Studies (Emeritus) at Stanford.
Born in Hankow, China he received a Ph.D. from Yale University in post-
Enlightenment religious thought. Dr. Harvey was awarded two Guggenheim
Fellowships, a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship, and
distinguished teaching awards from both the University of Pennsylvania
and Stanford University. An expert on fin de siècle Vienna, Dr. Harvey also
taught in the University of Vienna Hochschule for international students.
We were blessed by his presence with us over the past six years, and are
very fortunate to have video recordings of some of his Institute lectures
(on Vienna, Mahler, Klimt, and Nietzsche ~ available via Institute Membership).
Here is an obituary from the Stanford Religious Studies Department,
which details Dr. Harvey’s many academic pursuits and honors.
