John Daniel Robins (September 8, 1884 - December 15, 1952) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

academic and humorist. A longtime professor of German and English literature at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

's Victoria University, he was most noted for his book ''The Incomplete Anglers'', which was co-winner with

E. K. Brown Edward Killoran Brown (August 15, 1905 – April 24, 1951), who wrote as E. K. Brown, was a Canadian professor and literary critic. He "influenced Canadian literature primarily through his award-winning book ''On Canadian Poetry'' (1943)," w ...

's ''On Canadian Poetry'' of the

Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction The Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a non-fiction book written in English. Since 1987 it is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Litera ...

at the

1943 Governor General's Awards The 1943 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the eighth rendition of the Governor General's Awards, Canada's annual national awards program which then comprised literary awards alone. The awards recognized Canadian writers for new Eng ...

. Robins was born in Windsor,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, and educated at the University of Toronto and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. In 1914 he attended the Universities of Freiburg and Marburg. He returned to Toronto where he taught German at Victoria College. In 1916 he resigned to enlist in the Canadian Army. He spent the next two years teaching musketry at Camp Borden. He left the army in 1918 with the rank of company sergeant major. He returned to teaching at Victoria College eventually becoming a full professor in 1941. He obtained a PhD at the University of Chicago in 1927. In 1917, he married Leila Isabella Douglas. In addition to ''The Incomplete Anglers'', his other publications included the anthologies ''A Pocketful of Canada'' (1946) and ''A Book of Canadian Humor'' (1951), the novel ''Cottage Cheese'' (1951) and the posthumous short fiction collection ''Logging with Paul Bunyan'' (1957). He served as a judge for the inaugural

Stephen Leacock Award The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, also known as the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour or just the Leacock Medal, is an annual literary award presented for the best book of humour written in English by a Canadian writer, published or self ...

."Governor-General's Literary Awards; Winning Authors Announced for 1946". '' The Globe and Mail'', April 19, 1947.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robins, John D. 1884 births 1952 deaths 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian short story writers Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Canadian humorists Canadian anthologists Canadian folklorists Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers University of Chicago alumni University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto Writers from Windsor, Ontario Canadian male non-fiction writers