Calvin Thomas (October 28, 1854 near Lapeer, Michigan – November 4, 1919 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an American scholar who served as professor of Germanic languages and literature at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Biography

Thomas graduated from the University of Michigan in 1874 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

. He taught Latin and Greek at the Grand Rapids High School for a while, after which he studied philology at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

in Germany in 1877/1878. His studies ended abruptly when he responded to a request from the University of Michigan to return and teach German. In 1886, he became professor of Germanic languages at Michigan. In 1896, he moved to fill the same chair at

. Professor Thomas did much to introduce the study of German into US public schools. He was president of the Modern Language Association of America from 1896 to 1897, and of the

American Dialect Society The American Dialect Society (ADS), founded in 1889, is a learned society "dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it." The Society p ...

from 1912 to 1913. He was also involved in the simplified spelling movement and was chair of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

Simplified Spelling Board The Simplified Spelling Board was an American organization created in 1906 to reform the spelling of the English language, making it simpler and easier to learn, and eliminating many of what were considered to be its inconsistencies. The board ope ...

. The University of Michigan gave him an

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

in 1904. In addition, he was an editor and contributing editor, along with Frank Horace Vizetelly, of the Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia and Dictionary in the early 20th century. After his first wife, Mary J. Sutton of Lapeer, died the year they were married (1880), he married Mary Eleanor Allen of Grand Rapids in 1884. They had two children.

Publications

* ''A Practical German Grammar'' (1895; fourth edition, revised, 1905) * ''Goethe and the Conduct of Life'' (1886) * ''The Life and Works of Schiller'' (1901) * ''A History of German Literature'' (1909) * ''An Anthology of German Literature'' (1909) * ''Report of the Committee of Twelve of the Modern Language Association of America '' (1910) * ''Goethe'' (1917) * ''Scholarship, and Other Essays'', a selection of his work published posthumously by his colleagues (1924) Thomas edited ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' (part i, 1892; part ii, 1897), '' Hermann und Dorothea'' (1891), ''

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

'' (1888), and ''An Anthology of German Literature''.

Notes

References

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External links

photo of Calvin Thomas (linguist)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Calvin 1854 births 1919 deaths American book editors American biographers Columbia University Department of German faculty American academics of German literature People from Lapeer County, Michigan University of Michigan alumni University of Michigan faculty Presidents of the Modern Language Association