Albert George Latham (1864–1940) was the first Professor of

Modern Languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such ...

at Newcastle University. He was educated at the Universities of London, Bonn, Caen, Paris and Florence and joined the staff in 1893 as a lecturer in French and Italian. In 1899, he married the daughter of A D Murray, editor of the ''Newcastle Daily Journal'' (Mrs Latham later became an author of books for children and also took charge of ‘ Children’s Hour’, as ‘Auntie Katie’ in local transmissions for children from the local Newcastle BBC radio station). He was a specialist in French and German literature and also an accomplished translator for several European languages, mainly German, French and Italian, translating, among other things, choral works set by his colleague at Newcastle, W G Whittaker. In 1910/11, he was appointed as the first full professor of Modern Languages, leading to Centenary Celebrations at the School of Modern Languages at Newcastle in 2011. Latham’s publications included The Oxford Treasury of French Literature.Durham University Journal, Vol. XXIV, No. 8, March 1926 His translation of

Goethe's Faust ''Faust'' is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as '' Faust, Part One'' and ''Faust, Part Two''. Nearly all of Part One and the majority of Part Two are written in rhymed verse. Although rarely s ...

for the

Everyman's Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division of Weidenfeld & N ...

edition was the one most English-speaking readers in the first half of the twentieth century would have been familiar with. He retired in 1926.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latham, Albert George Academics of Newcastle University 1864 births 1940 deaths Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe