biography
| name: |
Fiske, John
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| |
originally Edmund Fisk Green
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1842–1901)
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| biography:
| Historian and philosopher, born in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. A precocious child, he changed his name to John Fisk at age 13, and to Fiske at 18. After graduating from Harvard University (1863), he tried his hand at law and became a lecturer (1869–79) and librarian (1872–9) at Harvard. A prolific author, he then embarked on a career as one of America's most celebrated lecturers on history. He popularized and championed contemporary scientific, philosophical, and historical thought, especially the theory of evolution. A synthesizer rather than an originator of ideas, he attracted many distinguished scholars to historical studies. In his later years he turned to writing about American history and taught American history at Washington University in St Louis (1884–1901). |
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