Robinson, F.N. (Fred. Norris), 1871-1966

Fred Norris Robinson (April 4, 1871-July 21, 1966), professionally known as F. N. Robinson, was an eminent American Celticist and scholar of Geoffrey Chaucer. Robinson received his B.A. (1891), M.A. (1892), and PhD (1894) from Harvard University, working with the eminent medievalists Francis James Child and George Lyman Kittredge. In 1936, after appointments at Harvard as instructor (1894), assistant professor (1902), and professor (1906), he succeeded his thesis adviser, Kittredge, as Gurney Professor of English. In 1895, he spent a year abroad at the University of Freiburg, Germany, working with Rudolph Turneysen, one of the founders of Celtic Philology. He received honorary doctorates from the National University of Ireland and the University of Dublin, was an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy and also the Consultative Committee of the Irish Texts Society.