Kuno Francke (27 September 1855 – 1930), was a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-born) educator and historian. Most of his career was spent at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

where he eventually became a professor of history and German culture and curator of the Germanic Museum.

Biography

Francke was born in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in 1855, where he received his early education at the Kiel gymnasium. He earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in 1878.Francke, Kuno
DICTIONARY OF ART HISTORIANS He was a close associate of art historian

Ephraim Emerton Ephraim Emerton (February 18, 1851 – March 3, 1935) was an American educator, author, translator, and historian prominent in his field of European medieval history. Early life and education Ephraim Emerton was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to ...

, and through him met

president

Charles William Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfor ...

. In 1884 he became an instructor at Harvard, in 1887 assistant professor of

, in 1892 assistant professor of German literature, and earned a full professorship of history and German culture in 1896. In 1902, he became curator of the

Busch-Reisinger Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

(Germanic Museum) of

. He remained curator at Harvard until 1929, when he retired, and died the next year in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

. He received the degrees of

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

in 1904, and Litt.D. from Harvard University in 1912. From the German imperial government, he received the title of Chevalier Royal Prussian Order Red Eagle and Order of the Crown. A professorship in "German Art and Literature" at Harvard is named after Francke. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1904.

Works

Works published in Germany: * ''Zur Geschichte der Schulpoesie des 12 Jahrhunderts'' (1878) * ''De Hymno in Cererem Homerico'' (1880) * ''Libelli de Lite Imperatorum et Pontificum'' (1892) * ''Deutsche Arbeit in Amerika. Erinnerungen'' (1930) Works published in the United States: * ''Social Forces in German Literature'' (1896) * ''Glimpses of Modern German Culture'' (1898) * ''History of German Literature'' (1901) * ''Handbook of the Germanic Museum'' (1906) * ''German Ideals of To-day'' (1907) * ''The Americans'' (1909), an ethnological study of the American people * ''Die Kulturwerte der deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters'' (1910) *
Germany's Fateful Hour
' (1914) * ''A German-American's Confession of Faith'' (1915), about

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

* ''Personality in German Literature before Luther'' (1916) * ''The German Spirit'' (1916) He also edited Munsey's collections of German classics.http://www.munseys.com/detail/mode/author/Kuno_Francke

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Francke, Kuno 1855 births 1930 deaths 20th-century American historians 19th-century German historians American curators Harvard University faculty Harvard University Department of German faculty Professors of German in the United States American male non-fiction writers German emigrants to the United States German male non-fiction writers Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Germanists Members of the American Philosophical Society Writers from Kiel Presidents of the Modern Language Association