Renee Lang (nee Brupbacher) was born in Russia on April 16, 1902 and was raised in Switzerland. Her parents were extremely educated, as her mother held doctoral degrees in philosophy, sociology, and medicine, and her father worked as psychiatrist.
Lang grew up learning a multitude of languages including French, Italian, German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Latin. Lang earned her baccalaurate degree and "license" in Geneva, Switzerland. She studied further in Berlin, Germany and took the Staatsexamen in philosophy, history of art, and English, German, and French literature. As a student in Berlin, Lang experienced the beginning of Hilter's regime. She also studied in Cambridge, England and Rome, Italy.
Renee married Leo Lang, a Czech chemist. Their marriage was short-lived by Leo's untimely death from tuberculosis. Lang eventually left Europe in 1940 for the United States. Once in the US, Lang began working for Columbia University in the French Department. She also began publishing work in 1940, beginning with a monography on Nietzche's influence on Gide. This began her correspondence with Gide, which lasted until two years prior to his death. In 1944, Lang ceased working for Columbia and began working at Wells College, Aurora, New York as an assistant professor. She earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University in French and Comparative Literature in 1945. Lang was promoted to an associate professor at Wells College in 1947 and worked there until 1951. In 1948-1949, Lang took leave from Wells College to travel back to Europe and lecture at the American Council of Study in Switzerland. Lang also spent the summer of 1950 as a guest lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
After leaving Wells College in 1951, Lang spent the next six years travelling and lecturing throughout Europe, specifically in various French and German universities. She returned to the US in 1957 to teach at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisana, teaching until 1959. During 1959 to 1961, Lang went back to Europe to lecture at different universities, mainly in Italy and Switzerland. She returned, once again, to the US to teach for during the 1961-62 academic year at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. In 1962, Lang joined Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a Professor of French. She was the first appointment to the Women's Chair of Humanistic Studies at Marquette in 1963. Lang retired from Marquette in 1972 but she continued to lecture at universities.
In 1982 Renee B. Lang Chair of Humanistic Studies was established at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and she traveled to Israel to speak at the dedication. Renee Lang died on June 6, 2003 at the age of 101 due to natural causes. Lang was considered an expert on Andre Gide, Rainer Maria Rilke, Paul Valery, and Natalie C. Barney. Lang had done research at Columbia, Princeton, and UW-Madison, as well as the national libraries of France and the Schiller Museum in Marbach, Germany. She published five books and well over 100 articles and reviews.
