Lievsay, John León

Born in Whitesboro, Texas, John Leon Lievsay (1906-1992) was educated at the University of Washington (B.A., 1926; M.A., 1932; Ph.D., 1937). After teaching at Stanford University and the University of Tennessee, Lievsay came to Duke University in 1962 as a Professor of English. He was a James B. Duke Professor of English from 1970 until his retirement in 1975.

Lievsay's specialty was sixteenth and seventeenth century literature, with an emphasis on Anglo-Italian relations. He was a research fellow at the Huntington, Newberry, and Folger Libraries, as well as a Fulbright Fellow in Italy (1953-1954) and a Guggenheim Fellow (1968-1969). Lievsay was a special consultant in Italian at the Folger Library (1959-1960); chairman of the Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies; and a member of the Renaissance Society of America, the Dante Society, and the American Association of Teachers of Italian.

Lievsay married Muriel M. Britten in 1926 and they had one son, John Edward.

From the guide to the John L. Lievsay Papers, ., 1937 - 1989, (University Archives, Duke University)