Leo Wiener

Leo Wiener (1862–1939) was an American historian, linguist, author and translator.

Wiener was born in Russia, of Polish-Jewish origin, and spent the early part of his childhood in Russia, 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 lectured on Slavic cultures at Harvard University and became the first American professor of Slavic literature. He translated 24 volumes of Leo Tolstoy's works into English. He taught George Rapall Noyes.

He was the father of MIT mathematician Norbert Wiener.

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