Richard Beck

Richard Beck (June 9, 1897 – July 20, 1980) was an Icelandic-born American literary historian, author, and poet. He was for many years a professor of Scandinavian languages and literature at the University of North Dakota and a prominent leader of the Icelandic American community. Biography Richard Beck was born at Svínaskálastekkur in Reyðarfjörður, Iceland on June 9, 1897. His parents, Hans Kjartan Beck and Thorunn Vigfúsina Vigfúsdóttir, lived in Litlu-Breidavik at Reyðarfjörður, Iceland. His father died in December 1907 while Richard was still a boy. Graduating from high school in Reykjavik in 1920, Beck married Olöf Daníelsdóttir on October 10, 1920. She died on March 22, 1921. Shortly afterwards Beck and his widowed mother emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada. In 1922 Beck entered Cornell University to study English and Scandinavian languages and literature. Here he received his M.A. in 1924, and his Ph.D. in 1926. His Ph.D. thesis was on the English poet John Milton and his Icelandic translator Jón Þorláksson. Beck taught at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota from 1926 to 1928, and at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania from 1928 to 1929. In 1929 he joined the staff of the University of North Dakota. Here he became a professor of Scandinavian languages and literature. He served as head of the department of modern and classical languages there for nine years. Beck retired from the University of North Dakota in 1967.