Ernst Feise, Chairman of the German Department at Johns Hopkins University, was born in Germany at Braunschweig in 1884. He earned his doctorate in 1907 at the University of Leipzig. He became instructor in German at the University of Wisconsin and was an Assistant Professor there in 1917 when he was ousted as a result of the rise of anti-German sentiment during World War I. Deprived of his livelihood, he worked as a plumber and electrician until he secured a post at Aleman College in Mexico City after the war. He taught at the Ohio State University for three years beginning in 1924. In 1927 he joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University. He was named Professor in 1927 and later headed the German Department until he bacame Professor Emeritus in 1952.

Professor Feise was known for his extraordinary sensitivity in the analysis of poetry and the novel. His analysis of Goethe's "Werther" was regarded as one of the first great studiesof this German forerunner of the psychological novel. One of Feise's later works was a translation of the poetry of Heinrich Heine, in which he attempted to preserve the lyrical verse of the original for English readers. He spoke German, French, and English interchangeably, with almost no accent. He was an authority on speech melody. Dr. Feise died on June 17, 1966, survived by his wife Dorothy Findlay; two sons, Richard Feise of Clarksville, Pa. and Frederick Feise of Baltimore; and a daughter, Mrs. Dorelen Bunting of Albuquerque, NM.