Frederic Prokosch

Frederic Prokosch (May 17, 1906 – June 2, 1989) was an American writer, known for his novels, poetry, memoirs and criticism. He was also a distinguished translator.

Biography

Prokosch was born in Madison, Wisconsin, into an intellectual family that travelled widely. His father, Eduard Prokosch, an Austrian immigrant, was Professor of Germanic Languages at Yale University at the time of his death in 1938.Editors (August 12, 1938) "Prokosch of Yale Is Killed in Crash." New York Times. p. 17. Prokosch was graduated from Haverford College in 1925 and received a Ph.D. in English in 1932 from Yale University. In his youth, he was an accomplished racquetball player; he represented the Yale Club in the 1937 New York State squash racquets championship.Editors (January 16, 1937) "Adams Turns back Foulke in 5 games." New York Times. p. 23. He won the squash-racquets championship of France in 1938.

During World War II, Prokosch was a cultural attaché at the American Legation in Sweden. He spent most of the remainder of his life in Europe, where he led a peripatetic existence. His interests were sports (tennis and squash), lepidoptery, and the printing of limited editions of poems that he admired.

Prokosch was involved at least twice in forgeries for...
Read More