# John Gerassi > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/John_Gerassi > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/John_Gerassi.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gerassi > Source revision: 1352340382 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|French-American author, journalist, professor, and political activist (1931–2012)}} {{Promotional|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = John Gerassi | other_names = Tito Gerassi | image = John Gerassi.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|07|12}} | birth_place = [Paris](/source/Paris), [France](/source/France) | death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|07|26|1931|07|12}} | death_place = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), U.S. | citizenship = French, [Dominican](/source/Dominican_Republic), American | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|[Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) (BA)|[London School of Economics](/source/London_School_of_Economics) (Doctorate)}} | occupation = {{hlist|Professor|journalist|author|scholar|political activist}} | module = {{Infobox writer |embed = yes | notable_works = {{horizontal list|''The Great Fear in Latin America''|''The Boys of Boise''|''The Premature Antifascists''|''Hated Conscience of His Century''}} }} {{Infobox military person|embed=yes|allegiance=[United States](/source/United_States)|battles=[Korean War](/source/Korean_War)}} | children = 2 | father = [Fernando Gerassi](/source/Fernando_Gerassi) }} '''John Gerassi''' (July 12, 1931 – July 26, 2012), also known as '''Tito Gerassi''' or mononymously '''Tito''', was a French-American [leftist](/source/Left-wing_politics) professor, journalist, author, scholar, political activist, and revolutionary. Initially working as a journalist for [''Time'' magazine](/source/Time_(magazine)) and later a foreign correspondent for ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times),'' he grew close to [Che Guevara](/source/Che_Guevara) and [Fidel Castro](/source/Fidel_Castro) during the [Cuban Revolution](/source/Cuban_Revolution) and analyzed the American policy against [Latin America](/source/Latin_America) in his 1965 book ''The Great Fear in Latin America''. In 1966, Tito would investigate the [Boise homosexuality scandal](/source/Boise_homosexuality_scandal) in ''The Boys of Boise'', exposing the persecution of homosexuals in the city that was carried out under the guise of a [moral panic](/source/moral_panic). Tito also used his close ties to figures to construct biographies, creating the only authorized biography of Sartre, ''Hated Conscience of His Century'' in 1989. Tito also spent his life as an educator, teaching at institutions including [San Francisco State University](/source/San_Francisco_State_University), The [University of Paris](/source/University_of_Paris) (XII, Vincennes), the JFK Institute of the [Free University of Berlin](/source/Free_University_of_Berlin), [UC Irvine](/source/University_of_California%2C_Irvine), and [Bard College](/source/Bard_College). At the time of his death, he was the senior professor of [Political Science](/source/Political_science) at [Queens College, City University of New York](/source/Queens_College%2C_City_University_of_New_York), where he had been teaching since 1978. ==Biography== ===Early life and background=== John Gerassi was born in [Paris](/source/Paris) on July 12, 1931, at the Clinique Tarnier to father [Fernando Gerassi](/source/Fernando_Gerassi) ({{died-in|1974}}), a [Turkish](/source/Turkey)-born artist of [Sephardic Jewish](/source/Sephardic_Jews) heritage, and [Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainians)-born mother Stépha Gerassi ({{nee|Stephania Awdykowicz}}; {{died-in|1989}}), a writer and feminist and daughter of Klymentyna Avdykovych, a famous [Lviv](/source/Lviv) candy factory owner. Moving between [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona) and the [Montparnasse](/source/Montparnasse) artistic hub in Paris, Tito's parents belonged to a cosmopolitan circle of artists and intellectuals who congregated in cafes to argue art and politics, and counted [Jean-Paul Sartre](/source/Jean-Paul_Sartre) and [Simone de Beauvoir](/source/Simone_de_Beauvoir) as close friends. At his birth, Fernando was socializing with [Andre Breton](/source/Andre_Breton), [Marc Chagall](/source/Marc_Chagall), [Alberto Giacometti](/source/Alberto_Giacometti), [Simone de Beauvoir](/source/Simone_de_Beauvoir), and [Joan Miro](/source/Joan_Miro). Fernando was eventually coaxed into drinking until he passed out; [Jean-Paul Sartre](/source/Jean-Paul_Sartre), the couple's best friend who recently arrived from his professorship at Le Havre, was the only sober member of the group and came in time to check on Stépha, who named the newborn Jean-Paul in his honor. When Fernando came to lucidity, he protested against the middle name, so Jean-Paul became Jean, John or Juan in Spanish, which was shortened to Juanito and then to the nickname Tito. Sartre became Tito's godfather, or "non-god father" because of his [atheism](/source/atheism). When the [Spanish Civil War](/source/Spanish_Civil_War) broke out in Spain in 1936, at the agitation of [André Malraux](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Malraux) Fernando Gerassi joined the [Loyalist](/source/Second_Spanish_Republic) forces under the International Brigade, and after distinguishing himself, was assigned by Colonel [Georgy Zhukov](/source/Georgy_Zhukov) under the Czech [General Lukacz](/source/M%C3%A1t%C3%A9_Zalka). After Lukacz's death, Fernando was promoted to a general. Fernando later served later as the inspiration for the figure of Gomez, the artist and revolutionary in Sartre's trilogy "[The Roads to Freedom](/source/The_Roads_to_Freedom)". The situation for the Loyalists became untenable, but Fernando continued fighting until the [fall of Barcelona](/source/Catalonia_Offensive). Fernando later became wary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and of the prospect of a new war, and went to Paris to insist on the establishment of Spanish Republican refugee divisions to fight the Germans. Rebuffed by the French government, when [World War II](/source/World_War_II) became a reality, Fernando was assigned as a colonel to defend the Franco-German frontlines in the [Vosges](/source/Vosges). Returning to Paris with his battalion, Fernando used his friendship with [Dominican](/source/Dominican_Republic) diplomat [Porfirio Rubirosa](/source/Porfirio_Rubirosa) to secure passports and visas for his friends and 8,000 Spanish refugees. After assuming the role of diplomats on behalf of the Dominican Republic after the flight of Rubirosa and his embassy, the family fled first to [Lisbon](/source/Lisbon), and after an assassination attempt from Franco's agents, finally arriving in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) on September 3, 1941, as political refugees disguised as Dominican diplomats. As the family were technically diplomats, Fernando was pressed into service for the [Office of Strategic Services](/source/Office_of_Strategic_Services) (OSS), serving in Latin America and later Spain and North Africa, earning a medal and commendation from [William J. Donovan](/source/William_J._Donovan) for his efforts in assisting the [North African campaign](/source/North_African_campaign). After Fernando left the OSS, the Gerassi family was harassed by the office's successor, the [Central Intelligence Agency](/source/Central_Intelligence_Agency) (CIA), who questioned the family in disguise as immigration agents into the [presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson](/source/presidency_of_Lyndon_B._Johnson) until [Abe Fortas](/source/Abe_Fortas) petitioned the government on the family's behalf and attorney general [Bobby Kennedy](/source/Robert_F._Kennedy) apologized to the family and made them citizens. After the family's emigration, Tito was raised in New York City and attended [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University). Tito was drafted to fight in the [Korean War](/source/Korean_War), and lost his best friend during the conflict, which, in addition to the conduct of American forces there, only fomented his radicalism. He spent a decade in journalism, worked as an editor for [Time](/source/Time_(magazine)) and, later, [Newsweek](/source/Newsweek) before serving as a foreign correspondent for [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times). He left journalism at one point to pursue a career in academia and earned his doctorate at the [London School of Economics](/source/London_School_of_Economics). ===Activism=== As a New York Times correspondent he became a supporter of the Cuban revolution and a friend of Che Guevara. As a professor of political science at San Francisco State in 1968, he participated in (and was arrested during) the student strikes, which were led by the Black Student Union. Initiated in response to suspension of a radical Black Panther graduate student instructor, these strikes escalated into violent protests resulting in police confrontations and occupation and a complete four month long shut down of the university. During that period, Tito was also a co-founder and contributor to [''Ramparts''](/source/Ramparts_(magazine)) magazine. ===Later life=== With Tito's termination from San Francisco State, he was blacklisted from other college teaching positions in the U.S. He subsequently moved to Paris in the early 70s, where he had an established a relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre and began conducting a series of interviews with Sartre. His intention was to help the world better understand Sartre's contribution to cultural and political thought beyond the realm of elite intellectuals and academics. He continued to teach American Foreign Policy at the [University of Vincennes](/source/University_of_Vincennes), where following the [1968 political uprising in Paris](/source/May_68), its campus had been abandoned to various left wing factions debating the failure of the '68 revolution and American expatriates hoping to better understand U.S. imperialism and ways to oppose it. The early 1970s were also significant for Tito's continued developing relationship with black nationalist leadership in the U.S. During this period, he maintained a dialogue with the various competing ideological factions that had developed within the Black Panther Party leadership. A portion of his extensive written correspondence and letters with George Jackson were published posthumously in "Blood in My Eye", four months after George Jackson was murdered during an alleged attempted escape from [San Quentin](/source/San_Quentin_Rehabilitation_Center) prison. John "Tito" Gerassi was admitted into [hospice](/source/hospice) care in June 2012.{{Cite news |last=Mohsin |first=Meher |date=September 12, 2012 |title=John "Tito" Gerassi |work=The Knight News |url=https://www.theknightnews.com/2012/09/12/john-tito-gerassi/ |access-date=December 1, 2012}} He died at the age of 81 from [cancer](/source/cancer) in the hospice care unit at the [Mount Sinai Beth Israel](/source/Mount_Sinai_Beth_Israel) hospital in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) at 11:30 pm on July 26, 2012, watched over by two of his students. He died half an hour after the anniversary of the [attack on the Moncada Barracks](/source/attack_on_the_Moncada_Barracks), led by Gerassi's acquaintance [Fidel Castro](/source/Fidel_Castro), an event which signaled the start of the [Cuban Revolution](/source/Cuban_Revolution).{{Cite news |last=Contat |first=Michel |date=August 10, 2012 |title=John "Tito" Gerassi, l'ami américain de Sartre, mort à 81 ans |work=Le Monde |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2012/08/10/john-tito-gerassi-l-ami-americain-de-sartre-mort-a-81-ans_1744962_3382.html |access-date=December 1, 2023}} Gerassi was survived by two daughters. At the time of his death, he was the senior professor of [Political Science](/source/Political_science) at [Queens College, City University of New York](/source/Queens_College%2C_City_University_of_New_York), where he had been teaching since 1978.{{Cite news |last=Popkey |first=Dan |date=August 8, 2012 |title="The Boys of Boise" author dies at 81 |work=[The Idaho Statesman](/source/The_Idaho_Statesman)}} ==Bibliography== *John Gerassi. ''The Great Fear: The Reconquest of Latin America by Latin Americans.'' New York: Macmillan, 1963. According to [WorldCat](/source/WorldCat), the book is in 883 libraries[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10392374 WorldCat book entry] *John Gerassi. ''The Boys of Boise; Furor, Vice, and Folly in an American City.'' New York: Macmillan, 1966.Review by Beth Kraig ''The Pacific Northwest Quarterly,'' v95 n1 (20031201): 39Review by Joseph Bensman'' Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,'' v373 (19670901): 284-285Review, by R N Baird '' Crime & Delinquency,'' v13 n3 (19670701): 473-474 *John Gerassi. ''North Vietnam: a Documentary.'' Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1968. *John Gerassi, ''Venceremos! The Speeches and Writings of Ernesto Che Guevara'', New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968. *John Gerassi. ''The Coming of the New International: A Revolutionary Anthology.'' New York: The World Publishing Company, 1971{8) *John Gerassi. ''Towards Revolution.'' London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971 *John Gerassi. ''The Premature Antifascists: North American Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39 : an Oral History.'' New York: Praeger, 1986. *John Gerassi, ''Jean-Paul Sartre: Hated Conscience of His Century'', Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989. According to WorldCat, the book is in 807 libraries[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18589078 WorldCat book entry] *John Gerassi. ''The Anachronists.'' Cambridge: Black Apollo Press, 2006. *John Gerassi. ''Talking with Sartre: Conversations and Debates.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009 *John Gerassi and Tony Monchinski, ''Unrepentant Radical Educator: The Writings of John Gerassi'', Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2009. TBC: List of Collections: audio recordings, letters and correspondence, news reportage and documentary footage - video/film/photography == References == {{Reflist|refs= {{cite web |title=Fernando Gerassi - His Art and Life |url-status=usurped|url=http://fernandogerassi.com/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030120718/http://fernandogerassi.com/index.html|archive-date=October 30, 2016 |accessdate=December 1, 2023|work=fernandogerassi.com}} {{Cite web |last=Gerassi |first=John |date=June 29, 2011 |title=The American Empire's Terrorist Network |url=https://www.tikkun.org/the-american-empires-terrorist-network/ |access-date= |website=www.tikkun.org |publisher=[Tikkun](/source/Tikkun_(magazine)) |language=en-US}} {{Cite interview |title=Living History: Talking with Tito |last=Gerassi |first=John |interviewer=Tony Monchinski |url=https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/clogic/article/download/191964/188909/218935 |date= |work=Cultural Logic |year=2001}} Review by Douglas Little''The Journal of American History,'' v74 n1 (19870601): 217-218 Review by Robert C Robinson ''Political Studies Review,'' v10 n2 (20120504): 242 George L. Jackson, Blood in My Eye, Random House, Inc., New York 1972 NYU Special Collections, John Gerassi Oral History Collection, Historical Biographical Note Personal Journals and Correspondence, Janice E. Cohen 1970-74 Paris, France; New York, New York; Nice, France https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/187296 Diva Bay area Video Archive, John Gerassi interview }} == Further reading == * Monchinski, Tony (January 1, 2009). ''Unrepentant Radical Educator''. Brill Academic Pub. {{ISBN|978-90-8790-799-0}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerassi, John}} Category:1931 births Category:2012 deaths Category:20th-century American Sephardic Jews Category:French emigrants to the United States Category:French journalists Category:French people of Turkish-Jewish descent Category:20th-century French Sephardi Jews Category:American male journalists Category:American people of French-Jewish descent Category:American people of Turkish-Jewish descent Category:Jewish American journalists Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:21st-century American male writers Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American Jews Category:American military personnel of the Korean War --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [John Gerassi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gerassi) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gerassi?action=history)). 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