Friedrich Solmsen

Friedrich Heinrich Rudolf Solmsen was a German-American classical philologist and university teacher. Born in Bonn in 1904, he was educated at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where he studied under Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff and Werner Jaeger. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy and worked in the fields of classics, philosophy, and philology. His professional career included positions at Cornell University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with work locations in Michigan, New York, Madison, and North Carolina.

Solmsen held citizenship in both the United States and Germany. He was a member of the German Archaeological Institute, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship and spoke English and German. He died in Chapel Hill in 1989.