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Edgar Maximilian von Fingerlin1890, Greenville South Carolina |
My great grandfather Edgar Maximilian von Fingerlin Büsching (EMvFB), 1846-1919, is the most recent ancestor in our line to be born and to die a von Fingerlin. He was a fourth generation bearer of the title "Freiherr" or baron. His only son Alfred William von Fingerlin changed his surname to Cleveland in the first decade of the 20th Century. Immediately below are links to other related von Fingerlin pages, followed by annotated links to articles on this page, written by and/or about him.
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 This photograph of Edgar M von Fingerlin accompanied the article on the right. I am curious about what appears to be a Prussian Cross half-hidden beneath his jacket. |
Article
in The University Courier FACULTY MEMBERS "Always after the best," is a phrase that we may,
with ample propriety, apply to president Bovard's attitude in
his selection of men and women for USC's faculty. Prof. Von Fingerlin was born in the historic city of Lake
Constance, Germany. He began his education in the Gymnasium in
Germany. Later he studied in Wehrie agricultural college in Switzerland,
continuing his college education he spent a number of years in
the Collegio Romano, from which institution he is the holder
of three diplomas. |
Edgar Maximilian von Fingerlin 1846 1919 This photograph was given by Edgar's widow Henriette to her granddaughter Katherine, and from Katherine (my aunt) to me. |
Biographical
article in The University Courier of the University of
Southern California EDGAR MAXIMILLIAN VON FINGERLIN Who would suppose that under the learned and dignified exterior of our Professor of Romantic languages there lurks a genial, jolly, second self which bears little resemblance to the man as most of us see him. A single visit ot one of his classes is a sure cure for the worst case of the blues. His personality takes a firm hold on everyone and they long to have him tell about things that happened when he was a boy. The tiny white scar on his forehead is so suggestive of days gone by, but never a word can we get from him no matter how earnestly we plead. The history of his life reads like a story-book and it would be hard to find a person with a more varied existence. Edgar Maximillian von Fingerlin, whose patent of nobility dates back to 1490, was born in the historical city of Konstanz, Feb 9, 18. He is by birth a German, by family an Austrian, by education an Italian and by long sojourn an American. His father was an officer in the Imperial army and mother was the Baroness von Mülheim. His childhood was spent in the ancestral castle near the city of his birth. In his seventh year he was taken to Rome with his family. For two years he studied under private tutors and then was sent to boarding school in Switzerland. Upon his return he entered the College Romano and there took the degree of Ph.B. and Ph.L, afterwards attending the state University of Rome. Here he took his degree in Facultate Philosophia and Mathematics, at the age of seventeen years. As his diploma reads, he took second honors in the Sciences as "Proxime accessit" to the Gold Medal bestowed in that department. As such honors are not given at random in European universities we see how versatile our professor is. His school days in Rome were so utterly lacking in any of the frivolities of American college life that we cannot help thinking sometimes that he would like to lend a hand in some of our college pranks just to make up for a few of his lost opportunities. Three years after graduation he entered the German army and for two years served as an officer in that army. In 1868 he came to America and immediately secured the position as interpreter for the commission of Immigration in New York City. After a short time he entered the teaching career and was instructor first in the University of South Carolina. He has held the chair of languages in many of the leading educational institutions of the South and for two consecutive summers was professor of Romance Languages in the Chatauqua at Roundlake, New York. He has been connected with USC since 1906 and we heartily hope he will remain with us for many years to come. Professor Von Fingerlin not only speaks and writes German, French, Italian, Spanish, English and Latin fluently, but knows them thoroughly from a Philological standpoint. To study under him is a privilege which no one should overlook. His wide knowledge of the world and its ways makes a lesson under him something more than the accurate acquirement of a foreign tongue. |
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Article
in The University Courier "What I Saw in Rome" Many things, dear reader, but one of the most imposing sights, not to be duplicated in any other city in the world is or was the celebration of a Pontifical mass in St Peter's church. Let us take the one celebrated on St Peter's day in July. Early in the morning, as early as 4 o'clock, I was awakened by the marching past our house, situated on the way to St Peter's, of regiments of Infantry, the bugles of squadrons of cavalry and the rumbling of the heavy artillery caissons. In the day of which I write, when the Pope was still king, pontifex and rex, there was always danger of an uprising or revolt against the temporal sovereignity of the Pope every time there was some public celebration. Hence the public squares in front of the buildings where such functions were held, were filled with French or Papal troops to quell or overawe any incipient revolution at once. In 1849 Napoleon the third had sent an army of occupation under General Oudinot to protect the Pope from his own subjects who had revolted against him under the leadership of the famous General Garibaldi. This army seized and occupied Rome till 1870, when the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war compelled the French emperor to withdraw it as he needed every single man in that struggle which was to deprive him of his throne and country. No sooner had this army left when the Italian army under Generals Cialdini and La Marmora entered, after a slight resistance, the gates of the Eternal City which was soon afterwards declared the capital of "L'Italia Riunita." But revenous à nos moutons, let us return to our subject. From the Ponte St Angelo, the Angel's bridge, so called because the Archangel St Michael stands with drawn sword on the top of the castle built by Pope Hadrian as a mausoleum to himself, but used, instead, as a State prison for political offenders, - from this bridge to St Peter's Square, a distance of about half a mile, mounted Dragoons are stationed in the middle of the street to keep the stream of carriages going to the church on the right side, those returning on the left of the street. On entering the immense church we are first struck by the sight of a whole batallion of French infantry under full arms, forming a kind of square into which only gentlemen in dress suit and ladies in the prescribed mantillas are allowed to enter. As you approach the main altar which is not at the end of the church, but about two-thirds from the main portal, or at the junction of a Latin cross; you come upon the Swiss Palace Guard on duty there. These are clad in the old Swiss colors of the canton of Lucerne, red, yellow and black, tunic and knee breeches, woolen hose, and buckled shoes. Over the tunic a shining mail coat is worn. Their headgear is the ancient helmet and their arms a halbert (spear with battle ax on one extremity) and a two-edged sword worn as sidearm. Thus accoutred they form a very striking and picturesque sight, and are a thoroughly reliable guard. At this point we find tribunes or platforms for the accommodation of distinguished visitors, viz: one for the crowned heads and suites who may chance to sojourn in the city, one for the Diplomatic Corps, one for Foreign and Roman princes and princesses and one for the Commanding Generals, aide de camps, and other foreign military officers. All this is gorgeous with colors, glittering with decorations and sparkling with the beauty of refined womanhood. At the appointed time the portals between the Vatican and the church are thrown open and the Pope makes his entrance carried on a throne, the so called sedia gestatoria, by twelve stalwart men in picturesque costumes surrounded by his court and both the civil and military officers of his household. The chamberlains, camerieri segreti, in doublets of black velvet, black silk hose, large black barrets with ostrich feathers to match and rapiers dangling from their sides. From the necks encased in ruffles of rare workmanship and antique design is suspended a golden chain the insignia of the office. I must here mention that all these court costumes were designed either by Raphael the celebrated painter, or by Michel Angelo, the sculptor, my memory fails me on this point. Slowly this procession wends its way to the part of the church opposite to the main portal, where the papal throne is erected. Between the main altar and this throne the broad aisle is kept open on either side by a double row of the Pope's Noble Guard, Guardia Nobile as their official designation is. Every member of this guard must be a nobleman, count, viscount, baron, marquis, prince or duke; even its privates rank as officers in the army. They are all handsome men whose height may not fall lower than 5 feet 10 inches. They are relieved every twenty-four hours when they return to their palaces to lead their accustomed lives until their turn comes again. It is a matter of course, that they pay for their own uniforms, horses, etc, and draw no pay. They are the Pope's body guard and consider the honor of serving in this capacity as ample pay. Their uniform consists of a scarlet frock coat heavily embroidered with gold, they wear gold epaulets, the French cavalry helmet, tight fitting buckskin pantaloons, riding boots and gauntlets. They're armed with the long cavalry saber, half saber, half sword, a weapon to cut and thrust. Behind these stand the clergy of various degrees, secular as well as regular. Through this double hedge of his guards standing motionless as statues and at a present arms, the Pope is carried until he finally reaches his throne. He is then invested with his pontifical robes one after the other, until at last the jewelled tiara is placed on his head, the crosier or shepherd's staff in his hand and he proceeds slowly down the steps surrounded by the assistant cardinals accompanied by the strains of the "Ecce Sacerdos Magnus" chanted by the singers of his chapel, the world renowned Capella Sistina, Sistine Chapel. A description of the mass would be here out of place nor could it be understood without a particular study of all the ceremonies accompanying it. This service concludes with the so called Apostolic Benediction given, however, not in the church but from the central balcony of St Peter's overlooking the great square of the same name where an immense concourse of people and the whole garrison of Rome is waiting for the solemn event. The Pope leaves the interior of the church in the same manner he has entered it, viz, carried on his sedia gestatoria and followed by his court and by the singers of the Sistine Chapel. Having arrived on the balcony, after the chanting of some preliminary prayers the Pope proceeds to the last act of the imposing ceremony during which the thousands and thousands of human beings in the square and as well as the persons of distinction in the adjacent loggias and balconies, preserve an almost painful silence, a pin could be heard dropping, the stillness being interrupted only now and then by the neighing of a horse. But no sooner have the final words "et Spiritus Sancti, Amen" been uttered when a salute of a hundred guns is fired, the command of the leaders of the troops resound and all this sea of humanity is set in motion again and one more day has passed into history. |
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Article in
The University Courier "My School Days in Rome" (part 1) My education having been accomplished in two or rather three countries, ie, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, it is my purpose to give you a short sketch of the last only. Enough is known to Americans of the German educational system, but very little, I trow, of that part and period of the Italian, with which I am here concerned. Italy at the time of which I am writing was not what is now, a united, happy kingdom, but a conglomeration of almost as many states as the now also luckily defunct German Confederation. Beginning at the south was the kingdom of Naples, or, as it was sometimes called, the two Sicilies, with Ferdinand, then Francis II of the Bourbon House reigning; next came the Pontifical States comprising the Patrimony of St Peter, viz: Rome with its surrounding country, the Marks and Umbrias. There the pope reigned supreme in his duel capacity as spiritual and temporal ruler, pontifex et rex. Then came several dukedoms ruled by archdukes of the house of Austria; then further north the fertile plains and splendid cities of Lombardy and Venice, forming then part and parcel of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Finally in the extreme northwest was the kingdom of the Piedmont, ruled over by kings, formerly dukes, of the house of Savoy. At that time Victor Emanuel, who later became the first king of Italy, reigned in Piedmont. It was a period of ultra conservatism. The attempts for freedom from the stranger and unification of Italy under Garibaldi and Mazzini had been repressed by the Austrian and French armies and a reign of reaction begun. Religious and political intolerance became the order of the day. Rome was garrisoned by a French army to uphold the papal power. They were there during my whole sojourn in Rome and left only in 1870, when Napoleon, being greatly pressed for men in the Franco-Russian war, recalled every man. No sooner was this done when the temporal power of the pope collapsed and the Eternal City was surrendered to the Italian army under General Cialdini by the commandant of Rome, General Marquis Zappi, my stepfather. But let me return to the real scope of this sketch, which could not be fully understood without the preceding remarks. I shall not speak of my university life there, as that was more or less as in any other European university, but of my college life. About the year 1860 I entered the "Nobile Collegio dei Ghislieri," after having spent three years in another college thirty miles [now 16 miles or 21 kilometers] from Rome, at Frascati, the Tusculum of the Ancients, situated in the Albanian mountains which is reached from Rome over the Via Appia by crossing the vast solitude of the often described Campagna Romana. This college I left in consequence of a terrible accident that happened to my brother there; before my very eyes he fell from a rock two hundred feet high and was found dashed to pieces. His remains are buried in the cathedral there in a vault under the main aisle. Requiescat in pace. Let us take up the curriculum for a day in winter. The students, I must preface, were divided into sections of ten or twelve boys each, each section occupying a room in common, superintended by a priest. This gentleman had nothing to do with the teaching, he was simply and solely there for the purpose of watching us, day and night. Our rooms were large halls; subdivided or partitioned along one side into ten or twelve chambers large enough to contain a bedstead and two chairs. The partition walls went only two-thirds up to the ceiling and were then covered by a wire netting, the front and door consisting of venitian blinds which were immovable and slanting upwards. Each chamber was numbered on the outside, thus giving to the whole a dangerous resemblance to a prison cell, and this resemblance was still increased by the following proceedings: Every night at a given signal we had to retire to these "cages," as we boys called them, and were locked in by the priest who, with a monotonous "buona notte" (good night) answered by us in the same way, would turn the key on us. In the morning we were awakened at 5 o'clock by the camerieri or waiters bringing in the lights with the greeting: "Benedicamus Domino," to which we had all to answer: "Deo Gratias." Then the one who was on duty for that week intoned a certain psalm in Latin to which we had to give the responses. Now all this was being done whilst we were yet abed, only half awake and so, at times, it would come to pass that the responses dwindled down to only one or two sleepy voices; then the priest from his chamber would wake us up quickly by uttering the response suddenly in a very loud and energetic tone, which, although the verse of a psalm, sounded very much like language unutterable and expressed in English typography by blanks. And then, you may be sure we were aroused to a realization of our duty. By the time we were dressed our taskmaster opened our cages with a hearty or UNhearty "buon giorno." Then we went into the corridor for our matutinal ablutions until the bell called us to a short prayer. All this time we were under silence, i.e., not one word were we allowed to speak. After prayer each student went to his desk just in front of his cage for one hour's study. Each desk had on it a lamp of ancient pattern, of brass with three beaks, fed with olive oil and suspended from little brass chains, a pair of snuffers, a stirrer, and an extinguisher all of brass. At the expiration of the hour, the bell rings for dressing, i.e., we put on our out-door uniform, consisting of a complete full dress suit with white cravat and beaver hat, vulgo stovepipe. To this was added in winter a Roman cloak of fine dark blue broadcloth with velvet collar, sleeveless, fastened in front by a clasp, the right end of the cloak being thrown over the left shoulder. Thus attired we descend to the chapel for prayers and then for breakfast in the refectory in the basement. Long tables ran all along the walls by which we were seated in the following order: section one; then its priest; section two, then the priest, and so on, so that between each section here was always a priest, thus effectually preventing any communication between the different sections. The boys of one section were never allowed to speak to the boys of another, so that after a three years' sojourn in the same house, eating at the same table, worshipping at the same shrine, I had never spoken a word to a boy of any other section, they being to all purposes utter strangers to me. But "cui bono?", I will perhaps be asked. Simply to avoid conspiracies, combinations, etc. And mark the perfection of this system. The ten or twelve boys of one section were under the continuous surveillance of their priest; no word, no gesture escaped him; there was moreover a strict rule forbidding the talking or standing together of less than three boys. Two were forbidden to speak alone under the heavy penalty of silence, on the principle that it is more difficult to keep a secret between three than two, so that the chances for conspiracies of any kind of evil doing were almost reduced to an impossibility. The penalty of silence consisted in the prohibition of speech either for one day or a week, at the direction of the priest. We had to sit by our desks in perfect silence during the few recreation hours when the others could converse. Moreover there was at the end of each large room a hole provided with a grating near the ceiling about eighteen feet high, perfectly dark, from which we would now and then hear a certain noise, and then we knew that a pair of dark eyes were looking in our direction, but to what body they belonged or how said body reached that place we never knew, and after a three years' residence I left that institution without having succeeded in finding the mysterious passage leading thereto. Of course the person there was somebody in authority, either the rector (president), or some other officer who thus could watch not only us but also our overseer. But we have finished our frugal breakfast consisting of coffee with cream and rolls, and after a short delay at the gate, allowing the portiere or gate keeper to unlock the heavily barred doors, we are in the street and at last permitted to use the unruly member, even if only with our file companion. We had not been allowed to speak from the moment of our awakening at 5 until this moment, 7:30, whether in the rooms, staircase or refectory. So we leave in columns of twos with the priest in the rear, and a strange sight we must have presented to foreigners. Two and two abreast, in full dress suits, white cravats and gloves and last the priest in his three-cornered hat, silver-buckled shoes and long black cassock. Our way led us through some of the most interesting parts of Rome, by the Palazzo Farnese, built by Michael Angelo in 1534, belonging to the king of Naples, but now to the French government, then past the Pantheon, built by Agrippa B.C. 27, with vast round walls of brick twenty feet thick. The circular interior is very impressive, and is lighted from a place twenty-eight feet across in the center of the dome, open to the sky. This unrivaled dome is 140 feet high and 140 feet across. The seven niches in which statues of the gods stood are now occupied by statues of the saints and by altars. Raphael is buried here. (To be continued) |
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Article in
The University Courier "My School Days in Rome" After a walk of about twenty-five minutes we reach our destination, the Collegio Romano. This college, kept by the Jesuit fathers, was at that time and for centuries before, the foremost educational institution in Rome. Numbers of illustrious ecclesiastics and laymen graduated from its walls, among whom the late Pope Leo XIII, who with his brother, Cardinal Pecci, graduated from that institution. The latter was my professor of philosophy and well do I remember the day when he called me up to prove that dueling was legitimate while he took the opposite and of course easier side. All lectures in that department were given in classical Latin and all the theses had to be supported in this same language. Whatever individual opinion may be about the order of Jesuits, there can be no doubt about their scholarship, especially in the classics, mathematics, philosophy and theology, the latter of course in conformity with the Roman Catholic creed. I have found a theological treatise in twelve volumes in Latin of our rector of studies, Father Perrone, in the library of an eminent Presbyterian divine in a Southern town, and on my expressing astonishment to find such a work in his library, the minister answered that he took the good wherever he found it. Noble answer from which many a one might profit! The greatest astronomer of that period was our professor of that science, Padre Secchi. I well remember savants from all countries coming to consult him, from England, France, Russia, etc, what a learned and yet so simple and unpretentious man he was! It is not a wonderful thing if the Jesuits have succeeded so much in the educational field, for it is due to their admirable organization. The whole order is divided into three parts, "in partes tres" as Caesar would have it. The first concerns itself with purely ecclesiastical matters, the second with education, and the third with the government, the policy of the order. Over and above all is the General to whom all members owe absolute obedience. Reports from all parts of the world come to him as the center like the threads in a cobweb in the center of which sits the spider. We are concerned here only with the educational side. From the moment when a novice enters the order, he is under constant surveillance which does not relax day or night. The father to whose special care he is assigned, experienced as he is, soon finds out the natural fitness of the applicant. If dull he will be assigned to menial tasks, cook, gate-keeper, etc, and remain a mere lay brother without ever attaining the priesthood; but if intelligent he is carefully watched as to his particular mental capabilities and then assigned to that department for which he seems most naturally fitted. He is then furnished with the best of books, apparatus, instructors, etc. He lives in the house of the order. Jesuits do not live in convents but in houses, casas, under monastic rules and the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience; his like is thoroughly regulated, nothing to distract him from his studies, but on the contrary supplied with everything advantageous to his progress. Is it then to be wondered if such select material gives excellent results? Besides lecture halls, laboratories, libraries and a pharmacy, the Collegio Romano contains also all necessary rooms for its professors, with a handsome church attached to it. Among the museums I would mention the Kircherian of archaeology open to the general public from 9 to 3 daily. To this immense building that with its barred windows and huge walls stands forth like a fortress, taking in a whole square by itself, could be seen on any schoolday wending their steps, hundreds of students of all nationalities and even colors. Once there we were turned over to the tender mercies of our professors until 1 o'clock, when, on emerging from our classrooms we would find our fides Achates, the overseers ready to receive us again under their wings and back we went to our college in the same order as we had come. As soon as we had entered its sacred precincts the gates behind us were barred and locked, reminding us of Dante's verse: "Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch' entrate." From this moment on we were again under silence, so we ascend silently the marble stairs, silently we enter our cages to change suits, silently we emerge from them and sit silently down at our desks, for one silent study hour, after the expiration of which we silently to the refectory and after a short grace we fall to our task. Our dinner consists of soup, beef with vegetables and fruit, well cooked and in abundance. Each pupil is moreover allowed a pint of wine, the Roman red wine, and water ad libitum. At the beginning of the meal the student on duty takes his seat by the side of the rector and reads aloud from some edifying book, generally an ecclesiastical history in many volumes. After the meat has been served, the rector rings a little hand-bell which is immediately answered by a lusty "mille grazie'' a thousand thanks coming from all the boys, for this signal meant the permission for speaking! After dinner we have at last one hour's recreation in our rooms when we may speak, and we make good use of the opportunity. The senior class however is compelled nolens volens, to play billiards. After the lapse of an hour we go again to our desks for one more study hour, then put on our street costume and return for two more hours' lecture at the college. This over, we take our daily walk, not where we want to go but where we are ordered. We prefer the modern Rome, the Monte Pincio, the great promenade with its military band, carriages, foreigners, and last but not least, handsome ladies of all nationalities. I say we prefer all this but the authorities send us, no doubt for our best, in the opposite direction, to the old Rome, the Colosseum, the Forum Romanus, or the already mentioned Appian Way, called "Regina Viarum" which was begun 312 BC, or to some church near Rome, for instance St Paolo fuori le Mura, built by Emperor Constantine over St Paul's tomb. This church is built of valuable materials and imposing proportions with a wonderfully impressive nave, and four aisles, with eighty enormous Simplon granite columns given by the viceroy of Egypt, malachite altars, given by the czar, fifth century mosaics, splendid altar canopies and rich chapels. But what interested us boys most was the tradition connected with the three springs found on this spot. St Paul was decapitated here and his head after falling to the ground rebounded twice. From the spot on which the head fell first a hot spring gushed forth, where it rebounded, one of tepid waters welled out, and an icy cold one where the head finally remained still. Thus the legend. As a matter of fact the three springs with the temperature as described are there. But it is growing dusk and we are returning to the city where lights begin to flare up here and there. After having made our usual entrance in silence and changed our suits we go to our desks for a long two hours' study by lamp light, that is, we work at our lessons for the following day. This was sometimes a hard task in winter, for I forgot to tell you that there was not a single fireplace or stove in the whole house with the exception of the kitchen, at least I suppose there must have been one there; we were never allowed to see those sacred precincts. We took our green blankets from our beds and wrapped ourselves in them and in spite of all, I had chilblains throughout the winter on hands and feet. Moreover in some rooms the floor was of stone or brick, in others as in the chapel and refectory of mosaic; the rooms high, built for a warm climate. But the tramontana or north wind is very searching at times in winter, although the temperature ordinarily is mild. It was not for economical reasons that we were deprived of fire as otherwise this institution was conducted on a by no means stingy basis and the fees very high, but to enure us to hardships as we were told. But as our superiors fared like we, we did not grumble, and I am still alive a shining example of the survival of the fittest! But retournons a' nos moutons. After the study hour we descended to the chapel for evening prayer and then to supper, consisting of one course, wine, and silence. And now comes the second hour out of the twenty-four during which we were allowed to speak in our rooms, namely the hour before retiring. I have said that there was no heating apparatus in the building and so there was not strictly speaking, but after supper the waiters would carry into every large room a brazero, ie, a large pan set on three legs and filled with live charcoal. Around this we now all sat holding our poor chilblained hands over the pleasant glow, telling stories, comparing lectures, the sights seen on the promenade, etc, until the ringing of the retiring bell. Years after I used to wonder why we did not all become asphyxiated from the noxious charcoal gases, but we did not, never dreaming at that time what narrow escapes we had between being frozen to death or dying of asphyxia. And now we rise all and after a short prayer recommending our souls to its creator we are in bed and soon fast asleep in that sleep known only to healthy youth. Thus ended a typical college day. One more observation: It was considered immodest in us when walking in the streets to look at the girls and in our rooms all windows had wooden casements before them with venetian blinds like those on our cages, turned upward and thus effectually preventing our looking in the street. We were told that all manner of evils come in this world through woman. Well do I remember an incident relating to this rule. We were in one of the churches and next to us a bevy of girls were kneeling on the cold marble. Roman churches have no pews, but you can rent a chair from a woman at the door for a soldo. The young lady next to me had no chair, while I was the happy possessor of one. I offered mine to her without speaking and it was accepted. After we had returned home I was "hauled over the coals" by the priest and put under one week's silence. He told me I was fast going to the evil one, etc, etc. Comment is unnecessary. This educational system I have tried to describe is however no longer in vogue now either in Rome or anywhere else, it has become history by this time and is as such presented as of some possible interest to the kind reader. I might have written much more. Of our delightful September and October vacation, for to what end heaven alone knows, our vacation did not begin till September. Our examinations happened during the hottest and unhealthiest season of the year, in August, when everybody flees from Rome and nobody is to be seen in its streets except the dogs and Englishmen with their red Baedeckers (guide books) as the Romans say. However, after rain comes sunshine, and I will never forget the delightful vacation spent in the Alban mountains, where the college possessed a magnificent villa belonging formerly to one of the popes, Paul, and now half in ruins. Situated on the top of a mountain it overlooked the whole campagna and far to the west the Eternal City with its 365 gilded church cupolas glittering like gold, and behind that just a faint glimpse of the Mediterranean. I might have written of our rigorous examinations for the degree of PhD, held in public during three days in the church of St Ignacius where anybody could and many would attack our theses in Latin. And here I would remark that the classical course consisted of ten years, the upper division of which consisted of the third and second classes called huma niora and rhetoric, and the first Philosophy which latter included not only metaphysics and mental and moral science, but also philology, higher mathematics, astronomy, physics, and chemistry. I might have written of rewards and punishments, of retreat days, of the carnival in Rome unique in the world, of the festivities in St Peter's. There are many more subjects upon which I might dwell the contrast between this college and my former in Switzerland, which was a thoroughly liberal institution, protestant to the core, with its strictly Pestoclozzian system. If of any interest I will in some future issue write something
of my life in Europe, of my army life and of my early experiences
and adventures, for adventures I had, in this country. But I
forbear. I have already overtaxed the patience of whosoever was
beguiled into reading this sketch. One word more about it. Small,
defective and incoherent as it is, it was written with a purpose.
What purpose? I leave the puzzle to the reader's ingenuity. Vale. |
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HUMOR /
PARODY SPENSER ON THE FACULTY. NO. 12 Edgar Maximilian von Fingerlin He, from the lesson parting, to them spake, |
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OBITUARY:
Edgar Maximilian von Fingerlin Büsching DR. FINGERLIN, 73, EDUCATOR, PASSES AWAY After forsaking an exalted position at the imperial court
of the late Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria to follow the paths
of democracy as a university teacher, Dr E. M. Fingerlin, 73
years of age, died at his home, 914 Second Street, Santa Monica,
yesterday. |
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OBITUARY:
Edgar Maximilian von Fingerlin Büsching DEATH REMOVES NOTED TEACHER. |
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THE GREENVILLE
DAILY NEWS FORMER FURMAN PROFESSOR DIES Prof Edgar von Fingerlin Died in California - Funeral Here Wednesday News reached the city last night of the death, on Sept 29, in Los Angeles, Cal, of Prof Edgar von Fingerlin, who for many years was a professor at Furman University, severing his connection with that institution about twelve years ago. The body is now en route to Greenville, accompanied by Mrs von Fingerlin, and the funeral is to be held Wednesday. Prof von Fingerlin was about 80 years of age at the time of his death, and was professor of modern languages in the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Before coming to Greenville he occupied the chair of professor of modern languages in Carolina. He was with Furman for eight or ten years. Interment is to take place in the Christ church cemetery Wednesday afternoon. Definite announcement as to the funeral arrangements will probably be made today. |
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THE SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA TROJAN NOTED LINGUIST AND TEACHER PASSES AWAY Many Students and Friends Mourn Death of Head of University's Italian Department The death last Tuesday of Dr Edgar Maximilian von Fingerlin, connected with the Italian and French departments, brought sorrow to his many student friends and co-workers on the faculty, who were privileged to have the acquaintance of this kindly, scholarly gentleman, who, up to the time of his death, was closely connected with the work of the university. The history of the life of Dr von Fingerlin is one of unusual interest; it seems almost like reading the story of the life of a romantic, historical figure to learn the details of his early life and education. He was born in Constance, in 1845, in a noble Austrian family, whose nobility dated back to 1495. Studied in Rome After graduating from college, he and his brother planned to go to Mexico with Maximilian,Dr von Fingerlin having previously become a lieutenant in the Austrian army, but almost providentially, it seemed, ill health prevented this and the brother who did go met his death. Dr von Fingerlin then came to America. Very Modest He was a wonderful linguist, speaking fluently French, German, Spanish, Italian and English. He took his AB at the Collegio Romano in 1862; his PhL at the same college in 1863, and his PhD at the University of Rome in 1864. Dr von Fingerlin was a "gentleman of the old school"; the wonderful personality he possessed, in addition to a thorough culture and an intense interest in all of the finer things of life, will ever be an inspiration to those with whom he has come in contact, and will spur them on to nobler, better things in the realms of culture and education. |
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THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE Professor von Fingerlin With the death of Dr Edgar Maximilian von Fingerlin there passes from the life of the University a man of unique personality, so unassuming and yet so striking that at the mere mention of his name there always followed a comment on his genial nature, his gentleness and kindliness, on his breadth of culture. Of noble birth and training, Dr von Fingerlin represented the finest traditions of the old aristocracy, the ideals of the days of chivalry, of unselfish service, and that fine sense of honor expressed in the words noblesse oblige. Born in 1846 in Austria, Dr von Fingerlin inherited the title of Baron von Fingerlin and Beibingen. In 1846 he [his father?] took up arms against Prussia, and during the rest of his life was an ardent opponent of the spirit of Prussianism. On receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Rome, he came to America as a teacher of Latin and Modern Languages. After a number of years spent in the South, where his unusual linguistic qualifications brought him into intimate contact with the leading educationalists, and where he made lasting friendships such as few ever enjoy, he came in 1906 to the University of Southern California as head of the Department of Modern Languages. During his thirteen years of unremitting labor at te University, it truly may be said that no one was ever more universally esteemed by students, faculty, and teachers of modern languages. He was often affectionately referred to as the "dean of Modern Language teachers in Southern California." As an educator he stood out as the type of man who by daily example makes of his students better men and women. Dr von Fingerlin is survived by his wife and son. Mrs von Fingerlin will make her home in Greenville, South Carolina, where she has many friends and where the remains of Dr von Fingerlin lie beside those of his daughter. |
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