George Schoolfield, professor emeritus of German and Scandinavian literature at Yale University, died at home after a long illness July 21, 2016. He was 90.

Schoolfield graduated in 1946 from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in classics and German. In 1949, he earned a Ph.D. from Princeton in modern languages and literature (German). He began his long career of teaching German and Scandinavian literature at Harvard, then Duke, followed by Penn, and finally at Yale from 1969 until he retired as emeritus in 1995.

He wrote and contributed to more than 400 books and articles on German and Scandinavian literature. He wrote A Baedecker of Decadence: Charting a Literary Fashion, 1884-1927, published in 2003. He served on the publications board of the American Scandinavian Foundation from 1965 to 1985, and was both managing and review editor of the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies journal from 1969 to 1984.

Knighted twice by the Finnish government, Schoolfield also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Helsinki. The Swedish Academy recognized him for the promotion of Swedish literature abroad.

Schoolfield is survived by his wife, Gloria; two daughters; four grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; and three step-great-grandchildren.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.