Dempster was born in France as Germaine Celestine Henriette Colette. She emigrated to the United States in 1924 to complete requirements for a Ph.D. in English Literature at Stanford University, California. Her thesis on the dramatic irony of Geoffrey Chaucer, published in 1932, set the stage for years of extensive study about Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales. She later moved to Chicago where she met her husband, Dr. Arthur J. Dempster who was a professor of physics at the University of Chicago. Mrs. Dempster became a noted authority on Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales. She wrote and published numerous articles, reviews and books on the subject. She helped form a research group of other scholars and researchers that conducted extensive studies on Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales. She traveled extensively throughout Europe, India, China and parts of Africa.
From the guide to the Germaine Dempster Collection (MS 98), 1940-1970, 1945-1960, (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept.)
