death_date death_place children birth_place notableworks name work_institutions honors birth_date spouse image article_title birth_name occupation alma_mater
october 30 , 1987 madison , connecticut two new haven , connecticut '' la divina commedia '' translation thomas g. bergin yale university order of the british empire , bronze star november 17 , 1904 florence bullen thomas goddard bergin.jpg thomas g. bergin
 thomas goddard bergin translator , author , teacher , editor yale university
thomas g. bergin

thomas goddard bergin , obe -lrb- november 17 , 1904 -- october 30 , 1987 -rrb- was an `` eminent twentieth-century american scholar of italian literature '' , who was `` noted particularly for his research on dante 's `` divine comedy '' and for its translation . ''
he was the sterling professor of romance languages at yale university , and master of timothy dwight college .
he is the first poet to have his words launched into outer space to orbit the earth .
