Albert Lord

Albert Bates Lord (15 September 1912 – 29 July 1991) was a professor of Slavic and comparative literature at Harvard University. He was known for continuing the important work of his colleague Milman Parry after Parry passed away.

Lord studied and helped understand epic poetry, which are long, exciting poems that tell stories of brave heroes and their adventures. His research helped people learn more about these ancient stories and how they were told across different cultures.

His work has been very important for scholars and students who study literature and history. Lord’s ideas and findings are still used and talked about in universities today.

Early life

Albert Lord was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He went to Boston Latin School and later studied at Harvard College. He earned a degree in classics in 1934 and finished his Ph.D. in comparative literature in 1949.

Career

Albert Lord became a professor of Slavic and comparative literature at Harvard University in 1950. He was later promoted to a full professor in Classics and helped start Harvard's Committee on Degrees in Folklore and Mythology. He led this department until he retired in 1983.

Lord wrote a book called The Singer of Tales, first published in 1960. His wife finished his work after he passed away, publishing a follow-up book in 1995. Lord showed how many famous old stories from Europe and Asia began as spoken words, not written ones. He believed the people who first told these stories were different from those who later wrote them down. He traveled to record South-Slavic heroic songs, working closely with a poet named Avdo Međedović. Lord studied many famous stories, including the Homeric epics, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh, finding similar ways these stories were told and remembered.

Personal life

Albert Lord was married to Mary Louise Lord, who taught classics at Connecticut College. They had two children together. Lord passed away in July 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Awards and distinctions

Albert Lord received many honors for his work. In 1940, he became a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1949 and became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1956. In 1959, he served as Honorary Curator of the Milman Parry Collection at the Widener Library of Harvard College. Lord became the Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Slavic and Comparative Literature at Harvard University in 1972. He was given the Yugoslav Star by the Yugoslav Consulate in 1988 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Novi Sad in 1990.