LANCASTER—Alexander Henry Frank de Jonge, a professor and author, died peacefully at his home in Lancaster on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.
Born in London in 1938, Alex grew up in Sonning-on-Thames, a village in Berkshire, England, the only child of Alec and Alexandra de Jonge. Alex attended Horace Hill and Winchester, then read for a bachelor’s in French at New College, Oxford. Upon earning his DPhil in French poetry from Oxford, Alex was appointed a tenured Fellow of New College, Oxford, where he taught French literature for nearly 20 years.
After emigrating to the United States in 1986, Alex became a professor of French and Russian literature at The University of Arizona, professor and head of the Russian Department at The University of Colorado at Boulder, and professor and head of the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department at James Madison University.
Alex was the author of Nightmare Culture: Lautréamont and Les Chants de Maldoror (1973); Dostoevsky and the Age of Intensity (1975); Ваudelaire: Prince of Clouds (1976); Napoleon’s Last Will and Testament (translation and introduction, 1977); The Weimar Chronicle: Prelude to Hitler (1978); Fire and Water: A Life of Peter the Great (1979); The Life and Times of Grigorii Rasputin (1982); Stalin and the Shaping of the Soviet Union (1986); and The Godolphin Arabian (translation and adaptation, 2004).
Alex enjoyed golf as a child, fly-fishing as a young man, and skiing, sailing, horseback riding and photography in his later years.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Kathy; sons, Edward and James; daughters-in-law, Cinzia and Lucy; and granddaughters, Willa, Clover, Ava and Alice.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and first wife, the Hon. Judith Strutt.
In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make a memorial donation to the Trinity Episcopal Church Deacon’s Discretionary Fund for community outreach, the Animal Welfare League of the Northern Neck, or Northern Neck Partners for Pets, in honor of Alex de Jonge.
A memorial service will take place in February.
