Clarence Augustus Manning (April 1, 1893 – October 4, 1972) was a prominent U.S. Slavicist. He worked for 43 years at the Columbia University in New York, eventually being appointed chairman of the Department of Slavic Studies. He published a number of studies on Slavic languages, countries and people, as well as translations of important Slavic works of literature, and was a pioneer in opening the field of study of Slavic peoples in the U.S. beyond the dominance of Russian studies of the times.

Clarence received his bachelor's degree at the Columbia University in 1912 and master's

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in 1913. During First World War, he worked in the intelligence police corps of the translation section of the Military Intelligence Division

Military Intelligence Division

The Military Intelligence Division was a military intelligence branch of the United States Army, established in 1885. It was the first standing intelligence agency of the Army; the Union Army had had a Bureau of Military Information, but that had reported to the Commanding General for less than a...

, having rank of sergeant

Sergeant

Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

. In 1915 he received his PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

, then became a lecturer in Slavic languages in 1917 and an instructor in 1921.

In 1922, he became acting head of the department of Slavic languages

Slavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

 in absence of John Dyneley Prince

John Dyneley Prince

John Dyneley Prince was an American linguist, diplomat, and politician. He was a professor at New York University and Columbia University, minister to Denmark and Yugoslavia, and leader of both houses of the New Jersey Legislature.-Early life:Prince was born in New York City in 1868, the son of...

, and later that year spent three months travelling through Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

, visiting Slavic countries and Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

.

In 1924 he received the rank of assistant professor, in 1935 became assistant professor of European languages, and in 1947 assistant professor of Slavic languages. In 1948, he received an honorary PhD

Honorary degree

An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...

 from the Ukrainian Free University

Ukrainian Free University

The Ukrainian Free University is a private graduate university located in Munich, Germany.-History:The Ukrainian Free University was established in Vienna, January 17, 1921. The idea to organize a Ukrainian university-in-exile came from Ukrainian academics, some of whom had held chairs at...

 in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

. He was also a member of the School of Slavonic Studies, Shevchenko Scientific Society

Shevchenko Scientific Society

The Shevchenko Scientific Society is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication. Unlike the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine the society is a public organization that was reestablished in Ukraine in 1989 after almost 50 years of exile...

 and Slavonic Institute of Prague.

In 1952 he became associate professor of Slavic languages. He retired in 1958, but continued publishing until his death in 1972. He was married to Louise Marshall, and had one daughter, Alice Vail.