Dr. Antoine E. Spacagna, in his 82nd year, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, at his home in Tallahassee Florida on July 29, 2011.

Antoine was born to the late Antoine Spacagna and Marthe Spacagna, née Speicher, in Paris, France. In the United States and is survived by his first wife, Betty Jane Spacagna, née Anderson, and daughter,Valerie Spacagna of Rome GA. He is also survived by three grandchildren Megan Willis of Rome, GA; Gilles Willis of Oakwood, GA; and Amber Willis of Sugarhill, GA. He is predeceased by his eldest daughter, Laura Willis. He is survived by his second wife, Danielle McKenzie, and her daughter, Alexandra Spacagna of Bradington, FL. Outside the USA, he is survived by his sister, Colette Decaux Spacagna, Betphaget, France and he is predeceased by his other sister, Antoinette Spacagna.

Antoine received his Ph. D. From Ohio State and taught for 33 years in French Department at the Florida State University. He specialized in 18th-century French and 20th-century Francophone literature. He is the co-author of Entre les oui et le non: Essai sur la structure profonde du théâtre de Marivaux and co-editor of Intertextuality in Literature and Film (University Press of Florida, 1994). He has published several articles on Marivaux, Gide, Ionesco, Gilles Hénault, Saint-John Perse, and Romain Rolland and attended many coloquia. He was the only teacher of French phonetics for many years at FSU and for most of his tenure, he was the only native speaker in the French division. Together with Dr. Elaine Cancalon, he originated the French Song Course which was taught for many years.  He also taught the French Cinema Course which was very popular, appealing to both French majors and non-majors. He also organized the showing of French films at local cinemas every year for the French Film Festival in Tallahassee. Antoine so loved teaching that after he retired from FSU, he joined the faculty at FAMU as an adjunct professor in the French Department.

Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Spacagna played a key role in helping to establish the Ada Belle Winthrop-King program in France which provides financial assistance to undergraduate students so they can live and study in Paris. Beginning in 1972, as the Director of the program, Antoine worked diligently every summer to organize the French Department's summer in Paris at l'institute Catholique. At least 35 students participated every year. But his involvement in the francophone community didn't end with yearly trips. He was always willing to assist any student who wanted to relocate to France, helping them with visas, passports, references, finding host families for exchanges, college applications, etc. For his many years of service, Dr. Spacagna received a Teaching Award in 1994. For more than twenty years, and well after his retirement, he served as judge for the Congrès de la Culture Française en Floride, the only state-wide French competency test in the nation.