Oscar Kuhns

author

Oscar Kuhns

1856–1929

A Wesleyan professor with a deep love of Italian literature, he wrote warmly and accessibly about Dante, Saint Francis, and the pleasures of reading. His work bridges literary scholarship, cultural history, and personal reflection.

1 Audiobook

Studies in the Poetry of Italy, Part II. Italian

by Oscar Kuhns

About the author

Born in 1856 and dying in 1929, Oscar Kuhns was an American scholar and writer who taught Romance Languages at Wesleyan University. Archival records at Wesleyan describe him as the author of works including The Great Poets of Italy, Dante and the English Poets from Chaucer to Tennyson, and The Germans and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania.

Kuhns is best remembered for bringing Italian literature to English-speaking readers in a clear, inviting way. His books show a lasting interest in Dante and in the wider spiritual and literary traditions of Italy, but he also ranged beyond that field into Pennsylvania German history and language.

He also wrote more personal, reflective works. Wesleyan's archive notes that his manuscript for The Peaceful Life: A Study in Spiritual Hygiene grew out of his interest in intellectual pursuits, quiet reflection, and religion, which fits well with the thoughtful, book-loving tone of titles such as A One-Sided Autobiography and The Love of Books and Reading.