John Dyneley Prince
Encyclopedia
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
.
in 1868, the son of John Dyneley Prince and Anna Maria Morris. He was the grandson of John Dyneley Prince and Mary Travers on his paternal side, and Thomas H. Morris and Mary Johnson on his maternal side. His great-grandfather was Reverdy Johnson
, United States Senator from Maryland
who also served as United States Attorney General
. He attended Columbia Grammar School
.
Prince had a strong interest in foreign languages as a child, acquiring basic skills in speaking the Romani
and Shelta languages by the age of 12, after reading Charles Godfrey Leland
's ethnographic accounts of the Gypsies. As retold in his 1939 memoir Fragments from Babel, he ran away with another boy from their families in New York to a gypsy camp near Newark, New Jersey
, where they spent three days there, and were accepted because of his proficiency in their language. He also learned Welsh
and Turkish
in his youth.
, graduating with a B.A.
in 1888. He represented Columbia on the University of Pennsylvania
's Babylon
ian expedition, where Sultan Abdul Hamid II
of the Ottoman Empire
heard of his language skills and made him an honorary captain of the troops that protected the expedition, after conversing with Prince in Turkish. He then studied Semitic languages at University of Berlin
from 1888 to 1889 and received his Ph.D
from Johns Hopkins University
in 1892. He was professor of Semitic languages at New York University
from 1892 to 1902 and dean of its Graduate School from 1895 to 1902.
Prince served as a professor of Semitic languages on the faculty of Columbia University from 1902 to 1915, when he was named professor of Slavonic languages at Columbia from 1915 to 1921 and again from 1933 to 1935, whereupon he was named professor of East European languages from 1935 to 1937.
in Passaic County
in 1891. Their only child, John Dyneley Prince, Jr., was born that year.
Prince entered New Jersey politics, using his language skills to reach out to various ethnic groups of constituents in their native tongues. He was a Republican
member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from 1906 to 1909, serving as Speaker of the Assembly in his final year. From 1910 to 1913 he served in the New Jersey Senate
representing Passaic County, and was President of the Senate in 1912, in which role he served as Acting Governor while Governor Woodrow Wilson
's was out of state.
While serving as Acting Governor, Prince found an anonymous seventeenth-century manuscript in the state archives containing a list of Delaware
-based trade jargon. Prince analyzed the word list in a 1912 article in American Anthropologist
entitled "An Ancient New Jersey Indian Jargon."
to be Minister
to Denmark
. In 1926, Calvin Coolidge
appointed him Minister
to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. He continued to serve as ambassador after the nation was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
in 1929. He served until 1932, after which time he returned to his professorship at Columbia, retiring in 1937.
Prince died of a heart ailment at his Manhattan
home in 1945 at the age of 77.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
linguist, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He was a professor at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, minister to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, and leader of both houses of the New Jersey Legislature
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the Senate...
.
Early life
Prince was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1868, the son of John Dyneley Prince and Anna Maria Morris. He was the grandson of John Dyneley Prince and Mary Travers on his paternal side, and Thomas H. Morris and Mary Johnson on his maternal side. His great-grandfather was Reverdy Johnson
Reverdy Johnson
Reverdy Johnson was a statesman and jurist from Maryland.-Early life:Born in Annapolis, Johnson was the son of a distinguished Maryland lawyer and politician, John Johnson . He graduated from St. John's College in 1812 and then studied law...
, United States Senator from Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
who also served as United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
. He attended Columbia Grammar School
Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School
Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School is the oldest non-sectarian private school in the United States, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan , in New York City, New York...
.
Prince had a strong interest in foreign languages as a child, acquiring basic skills in speaking the Romani
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
and Shelta languages by the age of 12, after reading Charles Godfrey Leland
Charles Godfrey Leland
Charles Godfrey Leland was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe....
's ethnographic accounts of the Gypsies. As retold in his 1939 memoir Fragments from Babel, he ran away with another boy from their families in New York to a gypsy camp near Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, where they spent three days there, and were accepted because of his proficiency in their language. He also learned Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
and Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
in his youth.
Academic career
Prince attended Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, graduating with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1888. He represented Columbia on the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
's Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
ian expedition, where Sultan Abdul Hamid II
Abdul Hamid II
His Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire...
of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
heard of his language skills and made him an honorary captain of the troops that protected the expedition, after conversing with Prince in Turkish. He then studied Semitic languages at University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
from 1888 to 1889 and received his Ph.D
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in 1892. He was professor of Semitic languages at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
from 1892 to 1902 and dean of its Graduate School from 1895 to 1902.
Prince served as a professor of Semitic languages on the faculty of Columbia University from 1902 to 1915, when he was named professor of Slavonic languages at Columbia from 1915 to 1921 and again from 1933 to 1935, whereupon he was named professor of East European languages from 1935 to 1937.
Political career
Prince married Adeline E. Loomis, daughter of Dr. Alfred L. Loomis, on October 5, 1889, and the two moved to Ringwood ManorRingwood Manor
Ringwood Manor was home to a number of well-known ironmasters from the 1740s to the late 19th century. During the American Revolution, Robert Erskine managed ironmaking operations from Ringwood, and became George Washington's first geographer and Surveyor General, producing maps for the Continental...
in Passaic County
Passaic County, New Jersey
Passaic County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 501,226. Its county seat is Paterson...
in 1891. Their only child, John Dyneley Prince, Jr., was born that year.
Prince entered New Jersey politics, using his language skills to reach out to various ethnic groups of constituents in their native tongues. He was a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...
from 1906 to 1909, serving as Speaker of the Assembly in his final year. From 1910 to 1913 he served in the New Jersey Senate
New Jersey Senate
The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. From 1844 until 1965 New Jersey's counties elected one Senator, each. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years. The 1947...
representing Passaic County, and was President of the Senate in 1912, in which role he served as Acting Governor while Governor Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
's was out of state.
While serving as Acting Governor, Prince found an anonymous seventeenth-century manuscript in the state archives containing a list of Delaware
Unami language
Unami is an extinct Algonquian language formerly spoken by Lenape people in what is now the lower Hudson Valley area and New York Harbor area, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, but later in Ontario and Oklahoma. It is one of the two Delaware languages, the other being Munsee...
-based trade jargon. Prince analyzed the word list in a 1912 article in American Anthropologist
American Anthropologist
American Anthropologist is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association . It is known for publishing a wide range of work in anthropology, including articles on cultural, biological and linguistic anthropology and archeology...
entitled "An Ancient New Jersey Indian Jargon."
Diplomatic career
Prince served as president of the New Jersey Civil Service Commission from 1917 to 1921, when he was chosen by Warren G. HardingWarren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
to be Minister
United States Ambassador to Denmark
The first representative from the United States to Denmark was appointed in 1827 as a Chargé d'Affaires. There followed a series of chargés and ministers until 1890 when the first full ambassador was appointed...
to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. In 1926, Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
appointed him Minister
United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia
The nation of Yugoslavia was formed on December 1, 1918 as a result of the realignment of nations and national boundaries in Europe in the aftermath of The Great War. The nation was first named the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929...
to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. He continued to serve as ambassador after the nation was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
in 1929. He served until 1932, after which time he returned to his professorship at Columbia, retiring in 1937.
Prince died of a heart ailment at his Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
home in 1945 at the age of 77.