Benjamin Eli Smith, L.H.D. (February 7, 1857 – March 18, 1913) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 editor and the son of Eli Smith

Eli Smith

Eli Smith was an American Protestant Missionary and scholar, born at Northford, Conn. He graduated from Yale in 1821 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1826. He worked in Malta until 1829, then in company with H. G. O. Dwight traveled through Armenia and Georgia to Persia. They published...

. Born in Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

, Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 (now Beirut, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

), he graduated from Amherst College

Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

 (A.B., 1877; A.M., 1881), earning the degree of L.H.D. in 1902. He was managing editor of the first edition of the Century Dictionary

Century Dictionary

The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia was one of the largest encyclopedic dictionaries of the English language. The first edition was published from 1889 to 1891 by The Century Company of New York, in six, eight, or ten volume versions in 7,046 pages with some 10,000 wood-engraved illustrations...

, and editor-in-chief of the revised edition after the death of editor William Dwight Whitney

William Dwight Whitney

William Dwight Whitney was an American linguist, philologist, and lexicographer who edited The Century Dictionary.-Life:William Dwight Whitney was born in Northampton, Massachusetts on February 9, 1827. His father was Josiah Dwight Whitney of the New England Dwight family...

 in 1894. As the editor, he was also responsible for the Century Cyclopedia of Names (1894), the Century Atlas (1897), the two-volume Century Dictionary Supplement (1909), and the revised and enlarged Century Dictionary, Cyclopedia, and Atlas (twelve volumes, 1911). Additionally, he translated Schwegler's

Albert Schwegler

Albert Schwegler , was a German philosopher and theologian.-Life:He was born at Michelbach in Württemberg, the son of a country pastor....

 History of Philosophy and Cicero's

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

De Amicitia, as well as edited selections from other works.

External links

• The Century Dictionary Online Help at www.leoyan.com