Victor R. Swenson, the founding Executive Director of Vermont Humanities, died on July 25, 2019 at the age of 83.
His family wrote in his obituary, “His leadership qualities and his respect for people of all ages made him the perfect person, with support from a few dedicated others…to bring the Vermont Humanities Council into being.”
They continued, “Victor believed that books open the doors to the richness of human culture. To him, the Humanities—history, literature, music, art, religion and philosophy, thought—were a feast meant to be shared. Particularly dear to him were programs that reached out to those not yet seated at the table—young children, people in prisons, and adults who could not read.”