Dates

• Existence: 1917 - 1993

Biography

Jessie Gillespie Hornsby, French professor and department head at the University of Iowa, was born in Algiers, North Africa, to William and Jessie Gillespie in 1917. She was educated in Belgium and Paris and grew up speaking French. In 1939, Gillespie earned her BA from the University of Toronto. During World War II, she worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London, England, as an Intelligence Assistant analyzing public opinion and reactions to BBC broadcasts in France and its colonies. Hornsby earned her MA in 1949 and her PhD in 1956, both from the University of Toronto. While there, Gillespie taught French language and literature but was told that she could not become a professor because she was a woman. In 1956, Gillespie accepted a teaching position at the University of Iowa, where she rose to the rank of assistant professor before returning to teach at the University of Toronto in 1959 for one year. She married Roger Hornsby, whom she met in Iowa City, and returned to the University of Iowa in 1960.

Jessie Hornsby's scholarly work includes two published books (one of which was translated into Spanish) and several articles on Georges Bernanos as well as work on the literature of Marcel Proust. She advanced to the position of professor at the University of Iowa in 1973, and was the chairman of the French and Italian Department from 1981 to 1984. In 1986, she became a professor emeritus. Hornsby died in Iowa City in 1993.

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