About Howard and Edna Hong
Howard and Edna Hong graduated from St. Olaf College in 1934 and 1938 respectively. Howard earned a PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1938 and was on the faculty of St. Olaf College, Department of Philosophy, for 40 years formally retiring in 1978. Together the Hongs have advised and supported several generations of St. Olaf students.
From the late 1930's on, the Hongs developed a passionate interest in the works of Søren Kierkegaard. This interest grew over the years. After Howard's retirement, the Hongs devoted themselves to the task of providing a new English translation of Kierkegaard's writings. In order to understand and translate Kierkegaard, it was essential to become richly acquainted with the works which informed Kierkegaard's thought. In the course of their translation efforts, the Hongs collected an enormous body of literature which includes writings from Kierkegaard's contemporaries and thinkers who influenced him as well as interpretive studies about Kierkegaard. in carrying out this project, the Hongs made many study trips to Denmark. Their private book collection was donated to St. Olaf College in 1976 as the foundation of the present Howard V. and Edna H. Kierkegaard Library.
The Hongs' first large-scale Kierkkegaard project was the seven-volume Kierkegaard's Søren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers. In 1968, the Hongs won the National Book Award for their translation of Volume 1 of this set. Howard and Edna translated Kierkegaard's Writings, the 26-volume edition of the complete works, which was completed in 2000.
Howard and Edna Hong have received many grants and awards during the course of their work including Knight of the Order of Dannebrog in Denmark in 1978. In 1992, Howard received an honorary D.Th. degree from the University of Copenhagen. Edna received the Wittenberg Award in 1993 from the Luther Institute in Washington, D.C. for her outstanding service to church and society. The Hongs were the first recipients of the Minnesota Humanities Commission's annual Public Lecture Award. Edna was a prolific author who was highly regarded for her poetic and insightful novels, religious writings, historical fiction, and children's books. Edna Hong died in April 2007. Howard Hong continues to reside in their Heath Creek home in Northfield.