Green, Martin, 1927-2010

Martin Burgess Green was a professor in the English Department at Tufts University from 1963-65 and then again from 1968-94. He received a B.A. from Cambridge University in 1948 as well as a M.A. from the same institution in 1951. He then went on to get his Ph. D. from the University of Michigan in 1957. Professor Green published 37 books on a variety of topics ranging from an examination of Tolstoy and Gandhi to the Robinson Crusoe adventure story. He is also known for his work on the Von Richthofen sisters and their involvement with Otto Gross concerning the Ascona Movement in Switzerland. While at Tufts Professor Green was recognized for his work with two Guggenheim Fellowships, one awarded in 1974 and the other in 1977. In 1987 he also won a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In the course of writing his two books, "The von Richthofen Sisters" (1974), and "The Mountain of Truth" (1986), Tufts University professor Martin Green collected original letters given to him by Else von Richthofen, and secondary material relating to his work studying the Ascona movement. After completing these books, Professor Green donated the letters and his research material to Tufts University. The principals in the correspondence are Else von Richthofen-Jaffe and Frieda Schloffer-Gross. Else von Richthofen-Jaffe was the sister of Frieda Weekley, wife of the British novelist D.H. Lawrence. Else was born in Metz in 1874 and married Edgar Jaffe, an economist of Max Weber's circle in Heidelberg. Frieda Schloffer-Gross was the wife of the famous psychoanalyst Otto Gross. She was at one time a student of Sigmund Freud, but later became his adversary. Else, Frieda, Otto Gross, and a number of others mentioned in the letters were part of a larger movement in early twentieth-century Europe that advocated a return to "nature." They participated in the creation of what is now known as "modern" thought and culture. The collection also includes a CD with transcriptions.