Maria Bach Dunn Collection

Marie Catherine ("Maria") Bach Dunn was born in Kleinbettingen, Luxembourg, on February 6, 1910, to Dominique Bach and Marie Buller-Bach. Educated at the Lycee in Luxembourg, Marie graduated with a major in Classical Latin, and went on to do further studies in French, German, English, and Letzebuergesch. She recalled childhood memories of World War I and talked often of the flight of her family from occupied Luxembourg into Free France during World War II. She later became a charter member of the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Marie married James Taylor Dunn on December 23, 1946, in New York City. They had met while he was in the U.S. Army during World War II. Initially, they lived in Cooperstown, NY, where Marie worked as a translator for the educational program of Voice of America. Later, when the Dunns moved to Saint Paul, Marie worked as a translator of historical documents at the Minnesota Historical Society. Marie always promoted understanding of the world, and especially her native Luxembourg. She served for many years as a contributing editor and writer for the Luxembourg News of America, and was a member of the Luxembourg Heritage Society. She helped initiate the Bach-Dunn Collection of Luxembourgiana at the University of St. Thomas, and sponsored a scholarship for the Luxembourg Program of the Dolibois European Center of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. In 1993, she received the Medal of Merit from the government of Luxembourg in recognition of her service to her native country. She died on December 9, 2005.