Charles Follen

1796–1840 (age 44)

educator

Biography

Charles Follen crossed the Atlantic as a scholar and found in the United States a new stage for his passion for learning, opening college classrooms to German literature and the ideals of human dignity while never wavering in his abolitionist convictions.

He inspired students through both erudition and moral example, and his life was rounded with deep hymnody and lectures before a sudden accident in Long Island Sound claimed him in 1840.