George Oliver Curme

Who was George Oliver Curme?

George Oliver Curme, Sr. was an American grammarian and philologist. He is best known for his Grammar of the German Language, and A Grammar of the English Language.

Curme received most of his education at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, and the University of Michigan. He also did postgraduate work at the University of Berlin. His principal teaching posts were at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After his retirement from Northwestern, Curme taught from 1934 to 1939 at the University of Southern California.

Curme’s Grammar of the German Language is one of the best works in its field, among the books by non-Germans. His English grammars are classic rather than modernistic; they may be profitably consulted for detailed explanations and analyses.