Leslie, John Kenneth, 1907-1985
Dates
- Existence: 1907 - 1985
Biography
John Kenneth Leslie was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on December 17, 1907. He obtained all of his degrees from Princeton University: A.B. (1929), N.A. (1939), and Ph.D. (1938).
Leslie was an instructor in Spanish at Princeton University, 1929-1930, and at Washington and Lee University, 1930-1931. During 1933-1934 at Princeton and 1934-1938 at the University of Delaware he served as an instructor in modern languages.
Coming to Northwestern University in 1938, Leslie held appointments as instructor (1938-1941), assistant professor (1941-1947), associate professor (1947-1952), and professor (1952-1973) of Romance languages. From 1958 to 1968 he served as chairman of the Department of Romance languages; Leslie retained the chairmanship through two changes in departmental title, until his retirement in 1973.
Leslie taught a variety of courses involving the Spanish language and culture, particularly Spanish literature. Research interests included 19th century Spanish theatre, and the works of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Mariano Jose de Larra, the foremost Spanish writer during the Romantic period. His research resulted in the publication of books such as Ventura de la Vega and the Spanish Theatre (1940), the widely used textbook, Spanish for Conversation (1948), and Mariano Jose de Larra (1970).
Leslie and Virginia Whitlock were married in 1939. They had four children: Barbara Ellen, John Whitlock, Mary Olive, and Andrew William. Leslie died on October 5, 1985, after a long Illness.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
J. Kenneth Leslie (1907-1985) Papers
The J. Kenneth Leslie Papers fill thirteen boxes and span the period 1926-1985. They are arranged in six categories: education files, correspondence files, teaching files, administration files, research files, and publications. Four folders of biographical materials are included as well. A portion of the collection is in Spanish.