Langdon, Courtney (1861-1924)
Role: Professor of modern LanguagesDates: 1890-1924
Portrait Location: Library Annex
Artist: ()
Portrait Date:
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 29 1/4
Framed Dimensions: 35 1/8
Brown Portrait Number: 119
Brown Historical Property Number: 988
Courtney Langdon was born in Rome, where his father served as an Episcopal chaplain, in 1861. He grew up in Florence and Genoa, and even though he moved with his family to the United States in 1873, he would devote his life to the study of Italian literature and make it the subject of his career as distinguished scholar. To honor his accomplishments in promoting Italian culture in America, King Victor Emmanuel III awarded him the title "Commander of the Crown of Italy."
In 1890, Langdon started his career at Brown University as assistant professor of modern languages. He advanced to associate professor in 1892, and to full professor in 1898. Brown awarded Langdon an honorary bachelor of arts degree in 1891. Langdon's course about Dante's Divine Comedy at Brown obtained legendary status among his devoted students, one of whom characterized Langdon in the Providence Journal as "a Yankee humanist, eccentric and brilliant." In 1917, he published a collection of poems, Sonnets of the War . His major scholarly publication was the three-volume translation of Dante's Divine Comedy in English blank verse, which appeared 1918 to 1921, and includes Langdon's commentary. Langdon taught at Brown until shortly before his death on November 19, 1924.
The portrait was presented to Brown at commencement of 1925.