André Maman, Professor Emeritus of Princeton University and former French Senator, who championed French-American political, cultural and educational relations, died at home in Princeton, New Jersey on April 13, 2018 surrounded by his family. He was born on June 9, 1927 in Oran, Algeria and completed his education at the lnstitut d’Etudes Politiques in Toulouse, France with degrees in law, economics and politics. On September 7, 1957 he married a Norwegian, Marie (Lill) Dalane and they remained together for over 60 years.
Professor Maman started his teaching career in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, where he taught for five years at Mount Allison University. In 1958, he was offered a position at Princeton University teaching French Civilization and Culture. Professor Maman created courses that many students considered rites of passage in their undergraduate education at Princeton. At the time it was an educational innovation to blend culture, civilization, economics and politics, and his classes attracted students from a broad variety of disciplines to the Romance Languages Department. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he also served as Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students for several years. Professor Maman was beloved by his students and had an extensive network of alumni with whom he maintained contact long after his retirement. He won numerous teaching and mentoring awards from Princeton. In 1991, he was among four professors to receive one of Princeton’s very first Distinguished Teacher Awards.
While he maintained a full teaching and advising role at Princeton, he also served as President of the American Association of Teachers of French in America for eight years, and he was elected to the Conseil Supérieur des Français de L’Etranger of which he also served as President. He worked tirelessly to ensure that French citizens around the world received the benefits they earned and were effectively represented in France. Under his leadership, nearly fifty French associations in the U.S. worked together for major celebrations such as the bicentennial of American Independence in 1976 and to commemorate the Battle of Yorktown in 1981. He taught at Princeton until his retirement in 1993.
In 1992 he was elected as a Senator of France representing French citizens living abroad. Senator Maman travelled the world visiting both convenient and remote locations to ensure that French schools everywhere received proper support and funding from the French government. He served as a senator until 2001, with a primary interest in improving the quality of French education globally.
In 2003, in recognition of his exemplary service to France, the president of the French Senate conferred upon him one of the highest distinctions the French government can bestow, the title of Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur.
He is survived by his wife, Lill Maman, his four children, Jean-Paul, Anne-Marie, Pierre (wife Gail) and Suzanne (husband Massai) and his ten grandchildren Mazie Stephens Sweet, Paul Stephens, Caz Maman, Pierre Maman, Henri Maman, Philippe Maman, André Maman, Emile Charles, Miles Charles and Marie Charles. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of André Maman to HomeFront in Trenton, https://www.homefrontnj.org/ or to the Southern Poverty Law Center,https://www.splcenter.org .
Arrangements are under the direction of the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
