Frederick Bodmer (actually ''Friedrich Bodmer'') (14 February 1894 – 2 January 1960) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and author of the popular book ''The Loom of Language''.

Life

He wrote his PhD thesis in 1924 at

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

on the topic ''Studies about a dialogue in Nathan by

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

'' (''Studien zum Dialog in Lessings Nathan''). After that he taught in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and at

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. Later he held a position within the Department of Modern Languages at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT). He was succeeded in his position at MIT by

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

in 1955.Linguistics at MIT: a personal view on how it all began
(web.mit.edu)

Bibliography

*Frederick Bodmer
''The Loom of Language: A Guide To Foreign Languages For The Home Student''
London:

George Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

, 1944 (Primers for the Age of Plenty, No. 3). Edited and arranged by

Lancelot Hogben Lancelot Thomas Hogben FRS FRSE (9 December 1895 – 22 August 1975) was a British experimental zoologist and medical statistician. He developed the African clawed frog ''(Xenopus laevis)'' as a model organism for biological research in his e ...

. .

References

External links

Speaking Volumes: Frederick Bodmer's The Loom of Language
(a detailed British review from 1997) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodmer, Frederick Linguists from Switzerland Swiss philologists Academic staff of the University of Cape Town MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty University of Zurich alumni 1894 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Swiss linguists 20th-century philologists