Karl Follen

Karl Follen (born Sept. 4, 1796, Romrod, Brandenburg, Prussia [Germany]—died Jan. 13/14, 1840, aboard a ship on Long Island Sound, New York, U.S.) was an educator who was Harvard University’s first professor of German language and literature. He also was instrumental in establishing the first U.S. college gymnasium. Graduated from the University of Giessen as a doctor of civil and canonical law (1818), Follen taught there and in the universities of Jena in Germany and...