Denise Ann Godwin, 72, of Johannesburg, died Tuesday 28th January 2014.

She was born to the late Nora Kathleen and Herbert William Chalmers, May 3, 1941, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Denise graduated from Waverley Girls High School and received her BA in French from the University of the Witwatersrand. She married John Robert Godwin on the 2nd of October 1965, and they lived together in Johannesburg all their married life.

Denise was President of AFSSA (the Association for French Studies in South Africa) from 1998-2002, and served as the editor from 1996-2005.

Denise taught at RAU from 1981 to 2001 where she was Head of the Department of French from 1988 to 2001. She obtained all the following qualifications cum laude: M.A. (R.A.U.), Diplôde Hautes Etudes (Grenoble), Doctorat de Troisième Cycle, (Provence), T.H.E.D. She was promoted to full professor in French on 1 July 1998. Her inaugural lecture on 25 August 1999 on the topic “The French Baroque: an ongoing story” can still be read on the website of the University of Johannesburg.

In 1995 the French minister of Education awarded her the Ordre des Palmes Académiques with the rank of Chevalier (Knight), and Commandeur (Commander) in 2000. It is an Order of Chivalry of France for academics and cultural and educational figures to acknowledge distinguished contributions to French national education and culture.

She played a decisive role in the establishment of academic research (the Topos project in the context of the Société d'Analyse de Topiques Romanesques (SAToR)) and student exchange cooperation with French universities, notably the Sorbonne and the University of Montpellier. She was also vice-president of SATOR.

She has made an extraordinary contribution to give international status to the department of French of RAU. She was part of an international research program in association with colleagues in France.

Two books are presently available at Amazon: Folk Tales from the Rainbow Nation (2000), written by Denise Godwin, and French Studies in Southern Africa, No 32, 2003 edited by her.

Denise is survived by her husband: John Robert, three children: Stuart William of Malaysia, Andrew John of Knysna, and Janis Elizabeth of Johannesburg. She also is survived by her two older sisters, Edna Joyce of Ontario, Canada, and Dorothy Jean of Roodepoort.

The memorial was held at 1pm on Saturday the 8th of February in Park Chapel at Doves in Randburg.