In Memoriam
Dora Carlisky Pozzi (September 5, 1930-August 3, 2018) was a native of Buenos Aires Argentina, where she attended the Universidad de Buenos Aires, earning her Ph. D. degree. She later also earned a B. Litt. degree at Oxford University. A passionate Hellenist and scholar of Greek drama, Dora published a critical edition of Menander’s Dyskolos (Buenos Aires, 1965), Myth and the Polis, coedited with John M. Wickhersham (Cornell UP, 1991), and Crisis y remedio en el mito y el teatro: Las Traquinias (La Plata, 2001). She founded the program in Classical Studies at the University of Houston, where she taught for many years in innovative ways, including online courses, topics such as gender and race in the ancient world, and study tours to Greece. She was a dedicated teacher who strove to make classical education available to a wide variety of students, and was an early adopter of the internet because she saw its revolutionary potential to spread knowledge across geographical and socio-economic barriers. She developed one of the first online ancient Greek courses (while in her sixties), and supported her colleagues in the development of similar things for Latin. As a colleague, Dora was beloved for her tenacious standards, her splendid sense of humor, and her uncompromising dedication to public education.
After her retirement, Dora dedicated herself to developing Spanish-language education on mental health for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), volunteering with NAMI West Houston and then NAMI Greater Houston as a board member, teacher, facilitator, translator and trainer. Her work over ten years focused on servicing the Latino communities in the three-county area serviced by NAMI, and in 2009 at the age of 79, she received the NAMI Texas Award for Creativity, Hard Work, and Loving Commitment.
Dora will always be remembered as an inspiring colleague and educator, whose gentle, self-deprecating manner concealed an iron determination and energetic passion to do good in the world.
Ἀντιπόδων γενεὴν τὴν πρώτην εὔχεται εἶναι
καὶ τότ᾽ ἔδωκε Τύχη δώματα πρὸς βορέην·
ἔνθεν ἔπειτα φἀνη ἡμῖν καλὰ δῶρα φέρουσα,
Δῶρα θανοῦσά τοι νῦν ἀστέρας οἶκον ἔχει.
Partibus ex Austri tum tota argentea nata
Oxoniae a Musis aurea perficitur,
denique dona ferens pulchra ad Zephyrum revoluta,
omine Δῶρα bono nomine vera venit.
In southern climes born Argentine,
by Muses turned to gold,
She came to share her lovely gifts,
the Δῶρα we extol.
If you would like to make a donation to support this scholarship in honor of Dora, please donate to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences here: https://giving.uh.edu/class/ and choose Modern and Classical Languages from the drop down menu. There will be a box on the form to designate the gift in Dora's memory.