John Harvard (theologian)

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The John Harvard statue from 1884 on the Harvard University campus. The man the statue represents probably does not resemble John Harvard, as the artist Daniel Chester French did not have a picture of him available as a template.

John Harvard (born November 26, 1607 in the London Borough of Southwark , † September 14 or September 24, 1638 in Charlestown , Massachusetts ) was an English Puritan theologian . According to him, which was Harvard University named.

Life

Harvard grew up in a large family in England. When the rest of his family, apart from his mother and one brother, fell victim to a plague epidemic in 1625, his mother had enough financial means to finance a degree at Harvard. He made 1632 his theology degree at Emmanuel College of Cambridge University . After the death of his last direct relatives, he married Ann Sadler (1614-55) in 1636, the sister of his classmate John Sadler , later MP and private secretary Oliver Cromwells .

Disadvantaged as a puritan and so-called dissenter , Harvard emigrated with his wife to New England in 1637 and settled in Charlestown near Boston, where he worked as an ordained teacher. He died of tuberculosis the following year .

Later founder of Harvard College

Since Harvard remained childless until his wife had no other relatives more, he bequeathed half of his fortune and his library, the 320 works in 400 volumes involved, the in neighboring Cambridge situated College , which was founded in 1636 by English colonists. This donation was so crucial at this early stage of the university that it was named in his honor. In this sense, he can be viewed as the subsequent founder of the university that was founded two years earlier. The later Harvard University , one of the leading and oldest universities in the United States, has its origin here.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Emmanuel College: John Harvard
  2. ↑ Joshua Quincy: The History of Harvard University. Boston 1860, Vol. I, pp. 2-10.
  3. ↑ Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, 19th ed., 1989, Vol. 9, p. 511.
personal data
SURNAME Harvard, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION North American theologian of English descent
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1607
PLACE OF BIRTH Southwark near London
DATE OF DEATH September 14, 1638 or September 24, 1638
Place of death Charlestown, Massachusetts