author
Calvin Thomas
1854–1919
A pioneering American scholar of German language and literature, he helped bring German studies into the mainstream of U.S. universities. His books and teaching made major writers and ideas more accessible to English-speaking readers.
2 Audiobooks
An anthology of German literature
by Calvin Thomas
The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller
by Calvin Thomas
About the author
Born near Lapeer, Michigan, in 1854, Calvin Thomas became one of the best-known American scholars of Germanic languages of his time. He studied at the University of Michigan, later continued his training in Leipzig, and went on to teach at both the University of Michigan and Columbia University.
Thomas wrote widely on German literature, language, and culture, producing works for students as well as general readers. He is especially remembered for helping shape the academic study of German in the United States at a time when the field was still developing.
He died in New York City in 1919. Today, he is remembered less as a novelist or creative writer than as an influential teacher, critic, and interpreter of German literature for American audiences.