Calvert, George Henry, 1803-1889

Poet and author, grandson of Lord Baltimore.

George Henry Calvert was an American scholar and author. Born into an aristocratic Baltimore family, he attended Harvard but was denied his degree for protesting the strict rules of student conduct. He immersed himself in Germanic studies, and became a key figure in popularizing Germanic thought and literature in America. He wrote extensively, primarily literature, criticism, translations from the German, and descriptions of his travels; and was a vocal proponent of phrenology.

George Henry Calvert (1803-1889) was born in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on January 2, 1803. His father, George Calvert (1768-1838) was a direct descendant of Charles Calvert, Lord Baltimore (1699-1751), the first colonial governor of Maryland. His mother, Rosalie Eugenia Stier (1778-1821), was the daughter of a wealthy Belgian aristocrat. Calvert graduated from Harvard College in 1823 and afterwards he studied German literature at the University of Gottingen in Germany. When Calvert returned to America, he became the editor of the Baltimore American. On May 11, 1829, George H. Calvert married Elizabeth Steuart (1802-1897).

In 1843, Calvert moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where he resided for the rest of his life. Calvert was a member of the Newport School Committee for several years and was elected mayor of Newport in 1853. Calvert only served as mayor for one year and devoted the rest of his life to his literary pursuits. He was an essayist, dramatist, poet, and biographer who wrote on a variety of topics including social science, literature, and history. Calvert was involved with the Redwood Library and Athenaeum, becoming a stockholder in March 1852 and donating his books to the Redwood Library upon his death. George Henry Calvert died in Newport on May 24, 1889.