Hartford, Conn., February 5, 2007—Trinity College Professor of Political Science, emeritus, Albert L. Gastmann, 87, died February 1, 2007. Professor Gastmann was an active member of the Trinity faculty for 36 years, retiring in 1990. He taught courses in comparative politics, international organizations, and international law, among other subjects, and was revered by numerous Trinity students and alumni, many of whom he visited during his wide-ranging travels in the U.S. and abroad.

Born in Arnhem, Netherlands, he spent his childhood years living where his father, a Dutch ambassador, was posted, including Indonesia, Iran, Canada, Germany (from where the family was permitted to leave following the outbreak of World War II), and the United States (where his father served as counsel general in New York City in the 1940s). He served in the Netherlands Armed Services during World War II, surviving a U-boat attack off the coast of Africa, and then at the Netherlands Embassy in Chungking, China. He returned to New York after his tour of duty for medical care and to complete his college education at Columbia College, receiving his B.A. in 1949.

He then taught school in Lima, Peru, and returned to Columbia for his M.A. in international relations, which he was awarded in 1953. He started his teaching career at Trinity College at that time, initially as an instructor of modern languages. Dr. Gastmann was fluent in Dutch, German, French, Spanish, and English. He obtained his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1963, and became a full professor of political science at Trinity in 1975. Dr. Gastmann also spent four years teaching in Curacao in the 1970s and a number of semesters teaching European and Third-World politics at Trinity’s Rome campus.

He focused much of his scholarly work on international relations and the politics and history of the Caribbean. He was a founding member of the Caribbean Studies Association of the United States and a member of Pi Gamma Mu and Delta Phi Alpha honor societies. He is the author or co-author of many articles and books, including The Politics of Surinam and The Netherlands Antilles, Historical Dictionary of the French and Netherlands Antilles, and A History of Credit and Power in the Western World.

A memorial service will be held at the Trinity College Chapel at a date to be determined.