Christopher Jon Delogu

Christopher Jon Delogu

1963-2026

Lyon, France – Christopher Jon Delogu died of a heart attack on May 2, 2026 while riding his bike in the tiny village of Montromant, outside Lyon, France. He was born August 27, 1963, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Orlando Edward Delogu and Judith Sara Darke Delogu. At age 3, he moved with his family into a historic house in Portland, Maine. As a child, he learned to ski on a golf course in Cape Elizabeth. At 9, he began delivering the Portland Press Herald. He was a small but mighty member of the Knights of Columbus little league baseball team. The family spent 1973-1974, in Bonn, Germany where Jon attended the Ernst Moritz Arndt gymnasium, played soccer, and learned to speak German. The family traveled extensively with each of the 4 children choosing a country to visit. Jon’s country was Denmark. Back in Portland for 6th grade, Jon won the Reiche award. At 13, he began working summers for George Christopher, a sheep farmer who became a life-long friend. At 16, he participated in Outward Bound where he learned to sail and revel in the natural world. An avid reader, his love of books was nurtured by working in his mother’s bookstore, A Likely Story.

Before graduating from Portland High School as class valedictorian in 1981, he spent 6 months traveling, hiking, and deciphering Ulysses in Ireland, where his father was a visiting professor. On his return, he matriculated at Dartmouth College where he joined the Outing Club and took up rock climbing. His senior year he lived in co-operative housing, making exotic meals from inexpensive ingredients. He studied one term in Edinburgh, Scotland, another in Lyon, France. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1995. He received his PhD from Yale University in 1991. While there, he worked as a GTA and played soccer. His Peruvian students taught him how to dance the merengue. He was visiting Professor of French at Connecticut College 1991-1992. Professor of English at Universite de Provence 1992-1994. Universite of Toulouse 2, 1994-2003. He commenced teaching at the Universite Jean Moulin 3 in Lyon, in 2003.

Jon’s family life in Toulouse began after he met Francoise Gilbert. They married in 2000. Their first child, Rose Elizabeth was born in 2001, followed by Daniel Orlando in 2003. He spoke, sang, and read to them in English. He initiated visits for them with their American cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. He camped, skied, hiked, and skated with them. He hoped to expose them to the larger world. Divorce presented logistical challenges, but his love for Rose and Daniel never wavered. Jon loved being a father. He found watching his children develop their own personalities deeply rewarding.

Jon wrote poetry under the pseudonym Bobby Watson. As C. Jon Delogu he translated over 20 books from French to English. His first book was an introduction to Ralph Waldo Emerson in French. His second, a monograph, Tocqueville and Democracy in the Internet Age, came out in 2014, followed by Fascism, Vulnerability, and the Escape from Freedom, in 2022. Jon was proud to have Daniel’s art on their covers. At the time of his death, Jon was a Professor of English and Political Philosophy at the Universite Jean Moulin 3, in Lyon, France.

Jon had an extraordinary ability to maintain connections with a large assortment of people over a long period of time. He was very good at being a friend. He was loyal to the core, always willing to listen. Even if many months passed between moments of contact or visits, you knew with Jon that he never forgot you. His colleagues at Jean-Moulin3 find it “inconceivable to imagine our department without his puns, wordplay, his recommendations for reading and his contagious smile. He will be missed.”

In addition to his children, Rose and Daniel, Jon is survived by his parents, his sisters, Sara and Daisy, his brother, Joseph; his in-laws, nieces, nephews and cousins, too numerous to list separately.

The public is invited to attend a Celebration of Life from 10:00 AM through 12:30 PM, on Sunday June 7, 2026, at the new Conroy-Tully Walker, Cremation, Funeral & Gathering Center, 300 Allen Ave. Portland, ME.

In lieu of flowers, the family greatly appreciates donations made to the Portland Public Library, on their website; which will continue Jon’s legacy of curiosity, love of reading, and doing good in the world through knowledge.