Klara H. Collitz (born 30 May 1863,
Rheydt bei Mönchengladbach; d. 22 November 1944,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
) was a German-born American
linguist.
Education and career
In 1895, Collitz (née Hechtenberg) gained first class honors in the Oxford final examination (
B.A.) after two years of study at
Oxford University. In 1896 she was lecturer in Romance Languages at
Victoria College in
Belfast. From 1897 to 1899, she was in charge of the Department of
German Philology at
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
in
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571.
Northampton is known as an acade ...
. She attended lectures at the
University of Chicago during the summer of 1897 and spent 1898 at the
University of Bonn.
After two years at the
University of Heidelberg she took her
Ph.D. (
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
) in 1901, with a dissertation entitled ''Das fremdwort bei
Grimmelshausen; ein beitrag zur fremdwörterfrage des 17. jahrhunderts''. From 1901 to 1904, she returned to
Oxford University as lecturer in German Philology for Women Students.
After her marriage to
Hermann Collitz
Hermann Collitz (4 February 1855 – 13 May 1935) was an eminent German historical linguist and Indo-Europeanist, who spent much of his career in the United States.
Biography
Born in Bleckede near Lüneburg in 1885. Collitz received a doctorate ...
in 1904, she immigrated to the United States. Although she never again held an academic position, she continued to conduct research and contribute to scholarly journals in the United States and abroad. She participated in the first meeting of the
Linguistic Society of America and became a member in its third year (1928). She participated actively in the annual meetings, maintaining her membership until her death in 1944.
Personal life and legacy
On August 13, 1904, she married
Hermann Collitz
Hermann Collitz (4 February 1855 – 13 May 1935) was an eminent German historical linguist and Indo-Europeanist, who spent much of his career in the United States.
Biography
Born in Bleckede near Lüneburg in 1885. Collitz received a doctorate ...
, who became the first President of the
Linguistic Society of America. Upon her death, in 1944, she left most of her estate to the
Linguistic Society of America to found the Hermann and Klara H. Collitz Professorship in Comparative Philology. She left her own and her husband's papers to
Johns Hopkins University.
Selected works
* Das Fremdwort bei Grimmelshausen (1901). University of Heidelberg dissertation.
* Fremdwörterbuch des 17 Jahrhunderts (1904). Berlin: B. Behr.
* Verbs of Motion in their Semantic Divergence (1931). ''Language'' ''Monograph'' 8.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collitz, Klara Hechtenberg
Women linguists
1863 births
1944 deaths
German philologists
Linguists from Germany
American philologists