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

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

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

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

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 Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

(now in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

and

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

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

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

Ephraim Emerton, and through him met

president Charles William Eliot. In 1884 he became an instructor at Harvard, in 1887 assistant professor of German, in 1892 assistant professor of

German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...

, and earned a full professorship of history and German culture in 1896. In 1902, he became curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum (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. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. He received the degrees of LL.D. from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

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) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

* ''Personality in German Literature before Luther'' (1916) * ''The German Spirit'' (1916) He also edited Munsey's collections of German classics.

References

External links

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