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Christian Gauss (1878 – 1951) was a literary critic and professor of literature.
Biography
Gauss was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His father had fled Württemberg when Prussia began to dominate it in the 1860s. The son graduated from the University of Michigan at 20, worked as a newspaper correspondent in Paris, covering the Dreyfus case during which time he met Oscar Wilde who dedicated one of his poems to Gauss.
Later Gauss taught at Michigan and Lehigh University in the United States, and in 1905 became a first preceptor at Princeton University, where he remained until his retirement in 1946.
At Princeton, Gauss became a full professor of French Literature two years after his arrival; he was chairman of the department of modern languages; and he served as dean. After retiring from Princeton, he was president of Phi Beta Kappa. The academic society awards a Christian Gauss Award.
Though he was not a prolific author or a public figure, Gauss left a mark on literary scholarship: Princeton University's semiannual series of Christian Gauss Seminars in Criticism (founded in 1949 by R.P. Blackmur), and Phi Beta Kappa's annual Christian Gauss Award (est. 1950) for a book of literary criticism are named in his honor.
Moreover, he has written and introduction for ‘The Prince’ by Niccolo Machiavelli and a plethora of other books.
Gauss influenced and corresponded frequently with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edmund Wilson.
References
- Boes, Tobias (2019). Thomas Mann's War: Literature, Politics, and the World Republic of Letters. Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-5017-4499-0.
- "PBK - Phi Beta Kappa Awards". www.pbk.org. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
External sources
- Alexander Leitch (1978). "Christian Gauss". A Princeton Companion. Princeton University Press. Archived from the original on 2006-02-12. Retrieved 2006-02-12.
External links
- Works by Christian Gauss at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Christian Gauss at the Internet Archive
- Gauss Award from Phi Beta Kappa
- Gauss Seminars from A Princeton Companion
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