Rudolf Flesch

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Rudolf Flesch (born May 8, 1911 in Vienna ; † 1986 in Dobbs Ferry ) was an American author and expert on the readability of texts, who grew up in Austria . He developed a well-known statistics-based readability index (Flesch formula).

Life

Rudolf Flesch was born in Vienna in 1911 as the son of Hugo Flesch and Helene Basch. After studying law, he emigrated to the USA in 1938. In 1943 he received his doctorate from Columbia University , and a year later he became a US citizen. Since 1946 he published, in addition to scientific papers, about 20 popular books; the best known was Why Johnny Can't Read (1955). Flesch's main theme was the understandable use of the English language . In 1986 he died of heart failure.

Fonts

  • Marks of readable style (1943, dissertation)
  • The Art of Plain Talk (1946)
  • A New Readability Yardstick (1948)
  • The Art of Readable Writing (1949)
  • How to Write Better (1951)
  • The Art of Clear Thinking (1951)
  • How to Test Readability (1951)
  • Why Johnny Can't Read - And What You Can Do About It (1955)
  • The ABC of Style: A guide to Plain English (1964)
  • Rudolf Flesch on Business Communications: How to Say What You Mean in Plain English (1972)
  • How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers (1979)
  • Lite English: Popular Words That Are OK to Use No Matter What William Safire, John Simon, Edwin Newman, and the Other Purists Say! (1983)
  • Why Johnny Still Can't Read - A New Look at the Scandal of our Schools (1981)

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personal data
SURNAME Flesch, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer and expert on text readability
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH 1986
Place of death Dobbs Ferry