Alice Marie von Hildebrand, ( Jourdain; 11 March 1923 – 14 January 2022) was a Belgian-born American Catholic philosopher, theologian, author, and professor. She taught philosophy at Hunter College for 37 years. She was also the second wife of Dietrich von Hildebrand.

Early life

Von Hildebrand was born Alice Marie Jourdain to Henri and Marthe (van der Horst) Jourdain in Brussels, Belgium, on 11 March 1923. Her first language was French. She left her home country in 1940, shortly after it was invaded by Germany, and relocated to the United States as a refugee. She initially attended Manhattanville College,

Von Hildebrand retired early in 1984, and her autobiography, Memoirs of a Happy Failure (2014), which recounts her escape from Nazi Europe and her teaching career at Hunter College. and modernism in the Catholic Church, She was also an outspoken critic of feminism.

Personal life

Von Hildebrand married Catholic philosopher and theologian Dietrich von Hildebrand in 1959, two years after his first wife died. They first met at Fordham University, where she was a student and he was a professor. She later worked as his secretary and collaborated with him on authoring books,

Von Hildebrand was made a Dame of Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, a papal order of knighthood, in October 2013. She died on 14 January 2022 at her home in New Rochelle, New York. She was 98, and suffered a brief illness prior to her death.

  • By Love Refined: Letters to a Young Bride (Sophia Institute Press, 1989)
  • Women and the Priesthood (Franciscan University Press, 1994)
  • By Grief Refined: Letters to a Widow (Franciscan University Press, 1994)
  • Memoiren und Aufsätze gegen den Nationalsozialismus, 1933–1938, with Dietrich von Hildebrand and Rudolf Ebneth, (Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, 1994)
  • Soul of a Lion: Dietrich Von Hildebrand; A Biography (Ignatius Press, 2000)
  • The Privilege of Being a Woman (Veritas Press, 2002)
  • Man and Woman: A Divine Invention (Ignatius Press, 2010)
  • Memoirs of a Happy Failure, with John Henry Crosby (Saint Benedict Press, 2014)

References

  • Hildebrand Project