Nathan Leopold (of Leopold and Loeb fame) (Polyglots) Language Learning Forum

Nathan Leopold (of Leopold and Loeb fame)
Tags: Crime \| College/University \| Polyglot
Share with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon
Language Learning Forum : Polyglots

BongoPilsner
Newbie
United States
Joined 5721 days ago
3 posts - 3 votes

Message 1 of 4

20 September 2008 at 1:35pm | IP Logged

Nathan Leopold, along with Richard Loeb, kidnapped and murdered a neighborhood boy "just for the thrill of it". The murder case was one of the most famous in American legal history, and their lead lawyer was the famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow (and this was before Darrow's even greater recognition in the Scopes trial). Both Leopold and Loeb were extraordinarily smart, each having graduated from college at the age of 17 and entering the University of Chicago Law School at the age of 18. Nathan Leopold was particulary brilliant intellectually and had a particular talent in languages.

From a recent book on the Leopold and Loeb case (Just For The Thrill Of It by Simon Baatz. Harper, 2008.)

Quote:

No other student at the University of Chicago performed so brilliantly in his studies during that academic year as Nathan Leopold. In autumn 1922, he earned an A-minus in Latin, A in classical Greek, A in Romance Languages, A-minus in Russian, and A-minus in Sanskrit. The following quarter, in winter 1923, he took four courses for credit-- earning an A in philosophy, A-minus in sociology, A in modern Greek, and A in classical Sanskrit-- and he audited a reading course on Cervantes's Don Quixote of La Mancha in the Romance languages department. It might have seemed foolhardy to take so many courses-- the normal course load at Chicago was three courses each quarter-- but Nathan had surpassed all expectations. (Baatz, p. 49)

...

The more obscure language, the better; he had learned Umbrian, for example, not because he might need to speak it or read it-- it was an extinct language, originally spoken in a region of central Italy-- but because it emphasized his status as an individual elevated above the rest of humanity. (Baatz, p. 259)

...

"I read some 26 or 27 languages-- Polish, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Russian, Egyptian-- as well as more common ones." (Baatz, p. 437)

Edited by BongoPilsner on 20 September 2008 at 1:48pm
1 person has voted this message useful

BongoPilsner
Newbie
United States
Joined 5721 days ago
3 posts - 3 votes

Message 2 of 4

20 September 2008 at 1:52pm | IP Logged

I should add that the last quote was from Leopold when he was paroled from prison (at age 60+/-). When he was younger, in his undergraduate days (age 16 or 17), he would boast to Loeb and others that he was fluent in 15 languages.

Also, perhaps related to his linguistic ability, Leopold had an exceptional memory

Edited by BongoPilsner on 20 September 2008 at 1:56pm
1 person has voted this message useful

William Camden
Hexaglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 6084 days ago
1936 posts - 2333 votes

Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French

Message 3 of 4

20 September 2008 at 4:04pm | IP Logged

Clearly a brilliant mind, but it must have inclined him to think he was above the ordinary run of humanity.
1 person has voted this message useful

patuco
Diglot
Moderator
Gibraltar
Joined 6827 days ago
3795 posts - 4268 votes

Speaks: Spanish, English*
Personal Language Map

Message 4 of 4

20 September 2008 at 6:24pm | IP Logged

There's more about them in Wikipedia.

1 person has voted this message useful

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register

Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum

This page was generated in 0.4844 seconds.