William Wistar Comfort, at Haverford College, 1918

William Wistar Comfort (1874 – December 24, 1955) was president of Haverford College.

Life

Comfort was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania and raised a Quaker. He graduated from Haverford College in 1894 and received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1902 with the dissertation "The Development of the Character Types in the French Chansons de Geste".[1] Later he translated from Old French four 12th-century Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes (Modern Library, 1914) and the 13th-century Queste del Saint Graal (Quest of the Holy Grail). He was a polymath, with other written works on such topics as Quakerism, children's literature, and the poet William Cowper.[1]

Comfort served as President of Haverford College for 23 years, from 1917 to 1940, and was succeeded by journalist Felix Morley.[2]

He continued teaching until 1953, and died at his home on campus in 1955. He was survived by his wife of 53 years, the former Mary Foles, five children,[3][4] and several grandchildren including a mathematician named after him (de:W. Wistar Comfort).[5][6] His papers are held at Haverford.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "William Wistar Comfort Papers 1867-1941". Haverford College. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  2. ↑ (3 April 1940). Felix Morley Named Head of Haverford, The New York Times
  3. ↑ (25 December 1955). William Comfort, Educator, 81, Dies, The New York Times
  4. ↑ (11 May 1965). Mrs. William Comfort, The New York Times (his widow died in 1965.)
  5. ↑ An interview with W. Wistar Comfort
  6. ↑ William Wistar Comfort (1933-2016): In Memoriam, special issue of Topology and its Applications, Edited by A.W. Hager, Jan van Mill, Volume 259 (1 June 2019)
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