Felton, Cornelius Conway

Cornelius Conway (1807-1862), an American scholar. A native of West Newbury, Massachusetts. He was graduated at Harvard in 1827 and taught at Northampton, Massachusetts, and Genesee, New York. In 1829 he was a Latin tutor at Harvard and a year later a tutor in Greek. In 1832 he became Eliot professor of Greek, and in 1860 he was made president of Harvard. President Felton did much to popularize Latin and Greek. Several translations and school editions of Greek authors are to his credit. His best piece of work was a spirited volume, Ancient Literature and Art, which led many a young man to choose a classical course in college. President Felton was a member of the Massachusetts Board of Education, a regent of the Smithsonian Institution, and a member of various learned societies.