Carlos Everett Conant
Carlos Everett Conant (November 27, 1870 – January 27, 1925) was an American linguist who specialized in Austronesian languages, particularly the languages of the Philippines. He was also one of the founding members of the Linguistic Society of America. Life. Conant was born to Medora Reed and Henry Conant in Cabot, Vermont on November 27, 1870. While working as a teacher at Washburn College, Conant met Dorothy Tuckerman, a native of Topeka, Kansas. Tuckerman later joined Conant, who had moved to Bais, Negros Oriental, Philippines where he was serving as principal for a local school; she also had  planned on taking a teaching position there. They married on March 11, 1902, however their marriage was short-lived as she contracted an illness and passed away in June 1902 in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, Philippines. In 1908, he married Julie Laubmeyer, a native of Königsberg, Germany. Education. Conant graduated from Lawrence College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1892 and a Master of Arts degree in 1899. In 1912, he earned a doctorate in Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at the University of Chicago. The title of his dissertation was "The Pepet Law in Philippine Languages". Career. According to his  obituary in the January 28, 1925 edition of the New York Times, Conant worked as a language teacher, a Bible translator for Philippine languages (Ibanag, Cebuano, and Kapampangan), Spanish translator for the US government, Professor of Modern Languages at University of Chattanooga (1908-1910, 1911–1921), Assistant Professor of Romance Languages at Carleton College, fellow in Sanskrit and comparative philology at the University of Chicago, and head of the Department of Comparative Philology at Indiana University. Among the courses he taught were Greek, Latin, German, Spanish, French, comparative philology, and Malayo-Polynesian philology. Death. Conant died on January 25, 1925 at  the age of 54 "[w]hile suffering from a nervous malady ... stepped from the edge of the roof of a Backbay (Boston) apartment house where lived with his wife, and was killed.". Though, the International News Services reported that Conant "committed suicide by leaping from an apartment house roof." Selected publications. Academic publications: Bible translations into Philippine languages: Language textbook