Albert George Latham
Albert George Latham (1864–1940) was Newcastle University’s first Professor of Modern Languages. He studied at the University of London and at Bonn, Caen, Paris and Florence, and joined the staff in 1893 as a lecturer in French and Italian. In 1899 he married the daughter of A. D. Murray, editor of the Newcastle Daily Journal. Mrs Latham later wrote children’s books and hosted Children’s Hour as Auntie Katie on Newcastle’s BBC radio.
Latham was an expert in French and German literature and did translations in several languages, especially German, French and Italian. He translated choral works set by his Newcastle colleague W. G. Whittaker. In 1910/11 he became the first full professor of Modern Languages, and in 2011 the School of Modern Languages at Newcastle celebrated its centenary.
His books include The Oxford Treasury of French Literature. He was well known for his translation of Goethe’s Faust in the Everyman’s Library edition. He retired in 1926.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:01 (CET).