Harry E. Wedeck

Born in Sheffield, England, Harry Ezekiel Wedeck was a British linguist, classical scholar, translator, and teacher whose long career joined formal study with a fascination for the stranger corners of culture. He served in India in the British Army during the First World War and later earned an M.A. from the University of Edinburgh.

After moving to the United States, he taught classical languages in Brooklyn, serving as chair of the department at Erasmus Hall High School from 1935 to 1950 and later teaching at Brooklyn College until 1968. He also lectured on medieval studies at the New School for Social Research.

Wedeck wrote widely on both the classical world and more unconventional subjects, including the occult, astrology, erotic literature, and aphrodisiacs. Among the books associated with his name are A Treasury of Witchcraft, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, and Dictionary of Erotic Literature, works that show how comfortably he moved between scholarship and popular curiosity.