Leo Wiener - Biography

Leo Wiener (1862–1939) was an American historian, linguist, author and translator of Polish-Jewish origin. Wiener was born in Russia and spent the early part of his childhood there, before coming to the United States alone, with the purpose of creating a vegetarian commune in Belize. Then, after having travelled and worked around the country, he went to Kansas City (Missouri) and started working as a teacher.

He was a polyglot, and knew more than twenty languages. Beginning in 1896, Wiener taught at the cathedra of Slavic cultures at Harvard University and became the first American professor of Slavic literature. He translated 24 volumes of Lev Tolstoy's works into English.

He was the father of MIT mathematician Norbert Wiener.

Major works as author

External links

• Some online works by Leo Wiener