author

Erwin W. (Erwin William) Roessler

1880–1926

A language teacher and scholar from New York City, he wrote practical early-20th-century readers for students while also publishing serious work on German drama. His career joined classroom teaching, textbook writing, and service to the growing field of Spanish instruction in the United States.

1 Audiobook

A First Spanish Reader

A First Spanish Reader

by Alfred Remy, Erwin W. (Erwin William) Roessler

About the author

Erwin W. Roessler was an American educator and author born in 1880. He studied at the University of Chicago, where he earned a Ph.D., and went on to join the New York City high-school system in September 1904.

He became First Assistant and head of the modern languages department at the High School of Commerce in New York City. His published work shows both sides of his career: scholarly study in The Soliloquy in German Drama and practical classroom books such as A First Spanish Reader and A First German Reader. He was also one of the founders of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and helped support its journal, Hispania, in its early years.

Roessler died in a railroad-crossing accident at Golden Bridge, New York, on October 23, 1926, while still in his forty-seventh year. Contemporary tributes remembered him as a capable teacher, department leader, and encouraging trainer of younger language instructors.