Anaita Jirgensone (Anaita Jurgenson).

Anaita Jurgenson was a Russian professor at Oregon State College from 1946 to 1968.

Jurgenson was born in 1895, in Tiflis Caucasus, Russia. She graduated from the French College Alciander’s Institute in Petrograd, Russia in 1915.

Before coming to Oregon State, she was a Russian instructor at the Navy Language School at the University of Colorado. Jurgenson applied for a position at Oregon State after the Navy Language School closed. She was brought on as an assistant instructor for the Department of Modern Languages at an annual salary of $3,000.

Jurgenson took a sabbatical leave in 1957 to travel and study abroad in Paris and London to attend lectures given on Russian language and culture. Throughout her time within the Department of Modern Languages, Jurgenson enjoyed showing Russian films to OSC students. Given the time during which she worked at the college, Jugenson did on occasion experience tensions on campus regarding Cold War hostilities between the United States and Russia. On one occasion in 1949, she cancelled a film showing due to the political atmosphere on campus. On another occasion, Jurgenson was to present at a lecture on Russian Culture, but the visas of the Russian scholars who were to visit were cancelled by the United States. Despite this, she spoke fondly of her time at Oregon State, and in turn her department showed gratitude that she chose to work there.

Jurgenson retired in 1965, after nineteen years of service at Oregon State. That same year, she suffered from severe health complications that resulted in her hospitalization, but she recovered and came back to work part-time at Oregon State in 1966 with the rank of professor. She continued to work until 1968. https://oregondigital.org/concern/images/df72j900x