Sonia Chalif Simon

{{Infobox person | name = Sonia Chalif Simon | image = Sonia_Sterling_Chalif_Simon_died_2022.jpg | alt = | caption = in the Pyrennees where she lived | other_names = Sonia Chalif Daniels | birth_name = Sonia Sterling Chalif | birth_date = December 24, 1925 | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | death_date = February 4, 2022 | death_place = Jaca, Spain | occupation = Art historian, college professor | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse(s) = | relatives = Louis Harvy Chalif (grandfather); J. Frederic Kernochan (great-uncle) }}

'''Sonia Sterling Chalif Simon''' (December 24, 1925 – February 4, 2022) was an American art historian and college professor. She specialized in medieval, baroque, and nineteenth-century subjects, and was on the faculty at Colby College from 1982 to 1996.

== Early life and education == Sonia Sterling Chalif was born in Brooklyn, the daughter of Edward Louis Chalif and Margaret Kernochan Montgomery Chalif. Her parents were dance teachers; her father, who was also an ornithologist, was born in Odesa, and her mother was from New Jersey.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1991-11-26 |title=Margaret Montgomery Chalif |pages=9 |work=Arizona Daily Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113999685/margaret-montgomery-chalif/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her grandfather, Louis Harvy Chalif, was a noted author and ballet master.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1980-11-24 |title=Edward L. Chalif |pages=10 |work=The Daily Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114001383/edward-l-chalif/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Attorney and judge J. Frederic Kernochan was her mother's uncle.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1924-08-02 |title=Niece of Justice Kernochan Married |pages=3 |work=Brooklyn Life |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113999954/niece-of-justice-kernochan-married/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

She attended the George School, and Vassar College,<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 9, 1943 |title=Summit Girls Enter Vassar September 1 |pages=16 |work=Summit Herald |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-sep-09-1943-3592344/ |access-date=December 2, 2022 |via=NewspaperArchive.com}}</ref> but left the latter to marry in 1946.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-07 |title=In Memoriam: Sonia Chalif Simon, 1925-2022 |url=https://www.wiareport.com/2022/03/in-memoriam-sonia-chalif-simon-1925-2022/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Women In Academia Report}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1945-08-02 |title=Sonia Chalif to Wed Army Lt. |pages=4 |work=The Item of Millburn and Short Hills |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114000795/sonia-chalif-to-wed-army-lt/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She earned all her degrees at Boston University, including a bachelor's degree in fine art in 1966, a master's degree in fine art in 1970, and a Ph.D in art history in 1975.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Meader |first=Laura |date=February 22, 2022 |title=Sonia Chalif Simon, Art Historian and Professor Emerita, Dies at 96 |url=https://news.colby.edu/story/sonia-simon-art-historian-and-professor-emerita-dies-at-96/ |journal=Colby News}}</ref> Her dissertation was titled "Studies on the ''Drogo'' Sacrementary: Eschatology and the Priest-King" (1975).<ref>Simon, S. C. (1975). ''Studies On The Drogo Sacramentary: Eschatology And The Priest-king'' (Order No. 7521015). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (302774321).</ref>

== Career == Sonia Chalif Daniels was active in women's clubs as a young woman, and taught at Far Brook School in New Jersey.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1965-01-14 |title=PTA News Glenwood |pages=12 |work=The Item of Millburn and Short Hills |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114000560/pta-news-glenwood/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1965-10-07 |title=Woman's Club Units Set Activities: 'Africa Today' is Club Day Topic |pages=16 |work=The Item of Millburn and Short Hills |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114000372/womans-club-units-set-activities/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was known for her doctoral work on the Drogo Sacramentary, a manuscript made for and used by Drogo of Metz, son of Charlemagne. She also studied the iconography of the cloisters at Jaca Cathedral in Spain.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Simon |first=Sonia C. |date=1980 |title=David et ses musiciens: Iconographie d'un chapiteau de Jaca |journal=Les cahiers de Saint Michel de Cuxá |volume=11 |pages=239–248}}</ref> She taught at the University of Massachusetts, the State University of New York, and the College of New Rochelle. She was also director of an art gallery at SUNY Cortland, from 1975 to 1980, and worked on the “Census of Stained Glass Windows in America, 1840-1940".<ref name=":0" />

Simon was a member of the faculty at Colby College from 1982 to 1996, while her husband was head of the art department; they sometimes co-taught survey courses on Western art, and they co-directed the school's Colby in Salamanca program for the 1989–1990 academic year.<ref name=":0" /> The couple were advisors on the "Art of Medieval Spain" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1993.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Umair Mirza |url=http://archive.org/details/artofmedievalspain |title=Art of Medieval Spain |date=1993-10-01 |pages=ix}}</ref>

== Publications ==

* "Le Christ victorieux: Iconographie d'un chapiteau de Jaca" (1979)<ref>Simon, Sonia C. “Le Christ victorieux: Iconographie d'un chapiteau de Jaca.” ''Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa'' 10 (1979), pp. 125-29.</ref> * "David et ses musiciens: Iconographie d'un chapiteau de Jaca" (1980)<ref name=":1" /> * "Un chapiteau du cloitre de la cathedrale de Jaca, representent la psychomachie" (1981)<ref>Simon, Sonia C. “Un Chapiteau du cloitrc de la cathedrale de Jaca, representent la psychomachie.” ''Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa'' 12 (1981), pp.151-157.</ref>

== Personal life == Sonia Chalif married journalist George Goetz Daniels in 1946;<ref>{{Cite news |date=1946-01-05 |title=Former Vassar Girl Bride of G. G. Daniels |pages=3 |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114000136/former-vassar-girl-bride-of-g-g/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wister |first=Jane |date=1946-01-04 |title=Sonia Chalif is Bride of George Goetz Daniels |pages=18 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114000645/sonia-chalif-is-bride-of-george-goetz/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> they had four sons. She later married fellow art historian David L. Simon. She died in 2022, in Jaca, Spain, at the age of 96.<ref name=":0" />

== References == {{reflist}}

{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Sonia Chalif}} Category:1925 births Category:2022 deaths Category:American art historians Category:Colby College faculty Category:Boston University alumni Category:George School alumni Category:American medievalists Category:American women medievalists