Henry Coppée

Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1821, Henry Coppée was an American educator and author from a family of French background that had earlier lived in Haiti. He studied at Yale, worked as a civil engineer, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1845, and served in the Mexican–American War.

After leaving active military service, he built a distinguished academic career. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania and later became one of the leading figures at Lehigh University, serving as its president from 1866 to 1875 and again from 1893 until his death in 1895.

Coppée wrote widely on subjects including history, biography, and literature. His books on English literature and historical topics helped make broad subjects accessible to general readers, and his background as a teacher gave his writing a direct, organized, and informative character.