Leo Wiener

author

Leo Wiener

1862–1939

A pioneering linguist and translator, he helped introduce Slavic literature and Yiddish culture to American readers at a time when both were little known in the United States. His wide-ranging scholarship also made him one of Harvard's earliest and most influential voices in Slavic studies.

2 Audiobooks

The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century

The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century

by Leo Wiener

Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth century

Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth century

by Leo Wiener

About the author

Born in Białystok in 1862, he studied in Warsaw and Berlin before immigrating to the United States in 1882. After early years in the Midwest, he went on to teach at Harvard, where he became the first American professor of Slavic literature and built a reputation as an extraordinary polyglot and energetic scholar.

His work ranged across language, folklore, translation, and literary history. He is especially remembered for bringing Russian and other Slavic writers to English-language audiences, and for his studies of Yiddish language and culture, which helped give those subjects a stronger place in American academic life.

He also wrote on much broader historical questions, showing a restless curiosity that went well beyond one field. Leo Wiener died in 1939, leaving behind a body of work that reflects both deep learning and a strong desire to connect cultures through language and literature.