Walter Schamschula, 94 of Huntsville, passed away on February 13, 2024.

He was born December 23rd 1929 as the second son of Othmar Schamschula and his wife Amalie in Prague (now Czech Republic). He attended German language school in Prague until the beginning of World War II. However, he was raised in a bilingual environment and was equally fluent in Czech and German. At the beginning of the war the family moved to Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary). At the end of the war he came in contact with Russian troops and with help from his father who had served in Russia in the aftermath of World War I and Russian Revolutionary War learned a good bit of the Russian language. Unable to complete school and compelled into forced labor, soon he and the family fled to the American Zone in Germany. They settled in Schwäbisch Gmünd where he completed High School (Gymnasium) and passed his Abitur.

He began his academic career at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main in 1950. At this point the university only offered fragmentary studies in Slavic Languages. As it took a long time to hire a Professor to head the department, he looked for other opportunities, and spent the 1952-1953 academic year at the Sorbonne in Paris. On his return to Germany he found little change in Frankfurt and opted to enroll at the Philipps University in Marburg. There he met both his future wife, Eleonore, and his future Ph.D. advisor Dr. Alfred Rammelmeyer, who would later take charge of the Slavic Department in Frankfurt and hire him for various positions there. He completed his Ph.D. dissertation "The Russian Historical Novel from Classicism to Romanticism" in 1960. The same year he was hired as a lecturer for Czech. He began a systematic study of Czech literature which later in his career would lead to an Anthology of Czech Literature and a three volume History of Czech Literature. In 1970 he completed his Habilitation "The Beginnings of the Czech Renewal and the German Intellectual Life" which was published in 1973 and received the Moritz-von-Bethmann Prize.

He was an active translator. Major works include Jiří Levý's "The Art of Translation" which in turn has been translated into numerous other languages, Jarsolav Hašek's "The Party of Moderate Progress within the Limits of the Laws," verse translation of Karel Hynek Mácha's Poem "Máj" (Mai), Juliusz Słowacki's "Król-Duch" (King Spirit, a project inspired by his Berkeley colleague, Nobel Laureate for Literature Czesław Miłosz), Otokar Březina's "Gentle Load on My Hands," and verse translations of Adam Mickiewicz's epic poems "Celebration of Ancestors" and "Pan Tadeusz."

After his wife, Eleonore, passed away (2018) he moved to Huntsville to be near his son, Marius (2020).

The family will be receiving friends on Friday, February 23, 2024 at Berrryhill Funeral Home from 3:00 to 4:00 PM.