Adolph B. Benson, born Adolph Berndt Bengtsson, (November 22, 1881 – November 10, 1962) was an American scholar, educator and literary historian. Adolph Benson's research focused primarily on the study of

Swedish-American Swedish Americans ( sv, svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedish ancestry. They include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1865–1915, who formed tight-knit communities, as well as their descendants and more recent immigrants. Today, ...

culture.

Biography

Adolph Benson was born in

Skåne Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

as the eldest of nine children. He emigrated to the United States during 1892 settling in

Berlin, Connecticut Berlin ( ) is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,175 at the 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1785. The geographic center of Connecticut is located in the town. Berlin is residential and industrial, a ...

. He graduated from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

(

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

. 1907), (

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. 1910). He taught at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, 1909-1911, at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

1911-1914 and at

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, ...

1914-1920. In 1920, he became extraordinary professor of German and

Scandinavian languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...

and literature at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He was chairman of Department of

Germanic Languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, Engli ...

at Yale University 1932-1944. His autobiography ''Farm, Forge and Philosophy: Chapters of a Swedish Immigrant's Life'' was published by the Swedish American Historical Society in 1961. The papers of Adolph Burnett Benson are available from Manuscripts and Archives at the Yale University Sterling Memorial Library in

New Haven, CT New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

Selected bibliography

Original works

*''The Old Norse Element in Swedish Romanticism'' (1914) *''Sweden and The American Revolution'' (1926) *''An American poet-enemy of Gustavus III of Sweden'' (1928) *''Swedish Rarities in the Yale University Library'' (1935) *''Swedes in America, 1638-1938'' with Naboth Hedin (1938) *''The will to succeed : stories of Swedish pioneers'' (1948) *''Americans from Sweden'' with Naboth Hedin and

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

(1950) *''American Scandinavian studies'' (1952) *''Farm, Forge and Philosophy: Chapters of a Swedish Immigrant's Life'' (1961)

Translations

*''Sara Videbeck and the Chapel'', by

Carl Jonas Love Almqvist Carl Jonas Love Ludvig Almqvist (28 November 1793 – 26 September 1866) was a Swedish author, romantic poet, romantic critic of political economy, realist, composer and social critic. Biography Carl Jonas Love Almqvist was born in Stockholm ...

; translation from the Swedish. (1919) *''America of the Fifties: Letters of Fredrika Bremer'', by

Fredrika Bremer Fredrika Bremer (17 August 1801 – 31 December 1865) was a Finnish-born Swedish writer and feminist reformer. Her ''Sketches of Everyday Life'' were wildly popular in Britain and the United States during the 1840s and 1850s and she is re ...

; translation from the Swedish. (1924) *''Pehr Kalm's journey to North America'' by

Pehr Kalm Pehr Kalm (6 March 1716 – 16 November 1779), also known as Peter Kalm, was a Swedish explorer, botanist, naturalist, and agricultural economist. He was one of the most important apostles of Carl Linnaeus. In 1747, he was commissioned by the R ...

; translation from the Swedish. (1961)

References

Other sources

* ''The Chronicle'' (American Swedish Historical Foundation, Spring & Summer 1956)

External links

*
The Journal of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study: Articles by Adolph B. Benson
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Adolph B. 1881 births 1962 deaths People from Scania Wesleyan University alumni Columbia University faculty Dartmouth College faculty Sheffield Scientific School faculty Yale University faculty People from Connecticut Swedish emigrants to the United States 20th-century American educators 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers