Helen Damico ‑ a scholar of Old English and Old English literature – passed away on April 14, 2020 after suffering from Covid-19.
Damico was a professor emerita at the University of New Mexico, where she began teaching in 1981 and founded the Institute for Medieval Studies. She was previously on the faculty of Brooklyn College and the University of Minnesota. She earned her B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1952, and received her Ph.D. from New York University in 1980.
The author of Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition, Damico made important contributions to the study of women in Old English and Old Norse literature, and her work on Wealhþeow is frequently cited. She saw representations of the valkyrie in both Wealhþeow and Grendel's Mother in the Old English poem Beowulf (c. 700-1000 AD).
Damico was a recipient of the New Mexico Humanities Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Humanities, and a recipient of the Medieval Academy of America's CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies.
Born in Chios, Greece, Damico emigrated to the United States in 1937. She died on April 14, 2020 as a result of Covid-19.