# Jeremiah D. M. Ford

Jeremiah Denis Mathias Ford (1873–1958) was an American educator and author. He was the Smith Professor Emeritus of the French and Spanish Languages and Literature at Harvard University from 1907 to 1943. He was the youngest-ever to be appointed a professor at Harvard, the first Catholic faculty, and the last ever appointed as Chairman of the Department of Romance Languages from 1911 to 1943.

## Biography

Ford was born 2 July 1873, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Thorndike Grammar School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1886. From 1886 to 1887, he attended the North Monastery Christian Brothers School in Cork, Ireland.
He then attended the Science and Art Department in South Kensington, London, England, from 1887 to 1888. In 1988, he was awarded Distinction in Chemistry and Math in the Science and Art Department Examinations.
He was awarded First Scholar & Gold Medal in English in the Junior Grade, in 1888, and the Silver Medal for German, in 1889, from the Intermediate Education Board, Dublin, Ireland.
He attended Harvard Law School from 1891 to 1892, attaining honors his first year. He then transferred, and attended Harvard College, receiving an A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, in 1894; A.M., in 1895; and Ph.D, in Romance Philology, in 1897.
Ford was the first Catholic ever hired by Harvard University, he was appointed Instructor in French and Italian in 1895, Harvard Harris Fellow in Romance Philology, Instructor-in-Residence to l'Universitê de Paris, from 1897 to 1898, Instructor in French and Spanish in 1898, Instructor in Romance Languages, in 1899, and Assistant Professor of Romance Languages at Harvard University.
Then, the youngest professor ever at Harvard, he was appointed Smith Professor of the French & Spanish Languages & Literature at Harvard, in 1907, a chair that had been vacant since 1886. He held that Chair until his retirement in 1943, when he became Smith Professor Emeritus.
Notable student's of Fords included Chandler Rathfon Post.
On January 1, 1902, he married Anna Winifred Fearns, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They had four children. He died at his home in Cambridge on November 13, 1958.

## Languages

* Arabic
* Basque
* Gaelic
* German
* Romanian
* Sanskrit
* Romance languages and their variants.

## Courses taught at Harvard

* Catalan
* French
* Old French
* Italian
* Old Italian
* Portuguese
* Old Portuguese
* Provençal
* Old Provençal
* Spanish
* Old Spanish
* Vulgar Latin
* Comparative Romance Phonology & Morphology
* Comparative Philology
* Comparative Romance Linguistics
* Novel & Tale in Romance Literature
* Romance Philology
* Problems in the Syntax of Romance Languages
* Historical French Syntax
* French Reading
* Translation, Grammar, & Composition
* General View of French Literature
* Old French Literature
* History of French Literature Prior to the 14th Century
* French Literature of the 14th & 15th Centuries
* Historical French Syntax
* The Works of Dante
* Italian Literature of the 15th & 16th Centuries
* The History of the Novel and Tale in Italy & Spain from the Mediaeval Period to the 18th Century
* Portuguese Language and Literature
* Old Portuguese Lyric Verse
* The Works of Camões
* The Works of Gil Vicente
* The Works of Sâ de Miranda
* Relations of Provençal Literature to European Literature in other Tongues
* General View of Spanish Literature
* Golden Age and Modern Spanish Literature
* Early Spanish Literature, Spanish Literature to the 16th Century
* The Poem of the Cid
* Spanish Literature of the 16th & 17th Centuries
* Spanish Prose & Poetry of the 18th & 19th Centuries
* Latin-American Studies
* Relations of Spanish Literature to European Literature in other Tongues
* Relations of Latin-American Literature to Literatures in Other Tongues.

## Honorary degrees

* Docteur-ès-Lettres from the Université Toulouse, France, on 21 Mar 1922.
* Doctor of Letters from the National University of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, on 28 Oct 1932.
* Degree of Doctor of Letters from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, on 05 Jul 1934.
* Doctor of Letters from Bowdoin University, Brunswick, Maine, in 1935.
* Doctor of Humane Letters from Fordham University, New York, in 1940.
* Doctor of Letters from Harvard University, Massachusetts, on 11 Jun 1942.

## Medals awarded

* Cervantes Medal from the Hispanic Society of America Medal, 3 times, the first in 1907.
* Sigillum Academiæ Harvardianæ in Nov Ang, at the Harvard University Quindecennial, in 1909.
* Medalla de Oro en Homenaje a Menéndez y Pelayo, from La Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, Spain, in 1910.
* Caballero, La Real Orden Isabel la Católica, from Spain, in 1922.
* Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur de France, in 1922.
* Croce di Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia, before 1924.
* Officier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur de France, in 1927.
* Order of Public Instruction, by Portugal, in 1930.
* Émile Legouis Medal, in 1932.
* Knight, Royal Order of Cultural Merit of Romania, in 1933.
* Sigillum Academiæ Harvardianæ in Nov Ang, from Harvard University, in 1936.
* Laetare Medal from Notre Dame University, in Notre Dame, Indiana, on 6 June 1937.
* Medalla Conmemorativa Cervantes from El Instituto de las Españas en los Estados Unidos, Seccion de Florida, in 1951.
* Chevalier, l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, from Republique Française.
* Delegate's Ribbon from l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris, France.
* Comendador, La Real Orden Isabel la Católica, from Spain.
* Jacques Cartier Medal, from France.
* La Câmara de Comércio de Boston Medal, from the Republic of Bolivia.
* Lafayette Medal.
* Medalha de Honra da Cidade de Lisboa, Portugal. Received twice.
* Medalion Per L'Italia, Ora E Sempre.
* Prin Culturä La Libertate Medal with button, from Romania.
* Université de Paris Medal, Paris, France.

## Founder

* Catholic Club of Harvard University, in May 1893.
* Medieval Academy of America, in 1925.
* Harvard Council on Hispano-American Studies, in 1929.

## President

* Dante Society of America, Massachusetts, from 1927 to 1940.
* Italian Historical Society of Massachusetts, from 1930 to 1940.
* American Academy of Arts & Sciences, from 1931 to 1933.
* The Cambridge Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1933. Membership is limited to 100.
* American Catholic Historical Association, in 1935.
* Medieval Academy of America, from 1939 to 1942.
* Humanities Research Association of England, in 1937.

## Vice-President

* Modern Language Association of America, from 1910 to 1911.
* Hispanic Society of America, in 1917.
* Modern Language Association of America, from 1927 to 1928.
* American Academy of Arts & Sciences, from 1930 to 1931.
* Hispanic Society of America, from 1937.

## Elected

* Corresponding Member of Hispanic Society of America in 1907.
* Correspondiente de la Real Academia Española, in 1911.
* Cambridge School Board member in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1915 to 1916.
* Correspondiente de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona, Spain, in 1913.
* Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, before 1919.
* Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, in 1927.
* Membre Correspondant de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de l'Institut de France, in 1944.

## Memberships

* The Colonial Club of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
* Charter member of the American Association of University Professors.
* Council of the Dante Society.
* American Folk-Lore Society.
* American Council of Learned Societies.
* Executive Committee of the Medieval Academy of America.
* American Association of Teachers of Spanish.
* Council of the American Association of University Professors.
* American Dialect Society.
* Cercle de la Renaissance Française.
* Club of Odd Volumes.
* Editorial Board of the Hispanic Review.
* Harvard University Standing Committee: Requirements for a Degree with Distinction in History & Literature.
* Société Amicale Gaston.
* Société de Linguistique.
* Société des Anciens Textes Français.

## Other

* Italian & Spanish Editor of the New International Encyclopedia, from 1901 to 1904.
* Chief Examiner in Spanish for the College Entrance Examination Board, from 1908 to 1921.
* In charge of Spanish & French acquisitions for Harvard University, after 1916.
* First Editor-in-Chief of Speculum, the journal of the Medieval Academy of America, from 1927 to 1936.
* Editor-in-Chief of the Henry Holt & Co. Spanish Series.
* Consulting editor of Hispania, the official journal of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese.