Rudolf Tombo Jr. (October 24, 1875 – May 21, 1914) was a German-born American philologist who was associate professor 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 ...

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 ...

Biography

Rudolf Tombo Jr. was born in

Barmen Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...

, Germany, on October 24, 1875. His father, Rudolf Tombo Sr, was a graduate of the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...

and an instructor in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. As a child Tombo Jr. accompanied his family to the United States, where his father held positions at

. Tombo Jr. enrolled at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

in 1891, graduating with honors in 1895. After two years in business, Tombo Jr. entered Columbia University, earning his Master of Arts in 1898. He was given a Master of Science in 1899, and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in 1901. Tombo Jr. was appointed an instructor at Columbia University in 1900. He was registrar at Columbia University from 1902 to 1908, when he became secretary of the Alumni Council and began his work of organizing Columbia's alumni. Tombo Jr. resigned his secretaryship in 1911, becoming associate professor of

at Columbia University and director of the Deutsches Haus at Columbia. He was simultaneously secretary of the Germanistic Society and editor of ''The Germanistic Society Quarterly''. Tombo Jr. was also a prominent member of Theta Delta Chi. He was well known for his abilities both as a lecturer and administrator. Tombo Jr.'s first publication was ''Assian in Germany'' (1901). He edited several textbooks along with his father and made many translations. Tombo Jr. married Adelaide Cooper, a student at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1901, with whom he had a daughter, Marion. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1911, and in 1913 Tombo Jr. married Lorraine Bowes. In the winter of 1914, Tombo Jr. was named as one of the candidates for the presidency of the College of the City of New York. He fell ill with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in March 1914, of which he died at his home on May 21, 1914.

References

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External links

Rudolf Tombo Jr.
at the

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombo Jr., Rudolf 1875 births 1914 deaths American philologists City College of New York alumni Columbia University alumni Columbia University faculty Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Germanists Linguists of Germanic languages