John "Tito" Gerassi was a professor and journalist born in Paris on July 12, 1931, and died in New York City July 26, 2012. Gerassi wrote a number of books on Latin America, Jean-Paul Sartre, and political affairs. He taught at a variety of colleges and universities in the United States and in France. Most notably, Gerassi was a longtime professor in the Political Science department at Queens College of the City University of New York. He taught at Queens College from 1981 until his passing. He was an activist in the New Left and a leading thinker regarding the significance of Sartre's work. His father was Fernando Gerassi, a Sephardic Jew and an anarchist general who defended the Republic from Franco during the Spanish Civil War. His mother was Stephania Avdykovych, Ukrainian and daughter of Klymentyna Avdykovych, famous Lviv candy factory owner.
