Vizetelly, Frank Horace

Vizetelly, Frank (Francis) Horace (1864–1938) lexicographer, editor; born in London, England. Born into a family of printers, Vizetelly came to the United States in 1891 after his father suffered imprisonment and financial loss on charges of obscenity for publishing the works of Émile Zola. He began work at Funk & Wagnalls during the preparation of A Standard Dictionary of the English Language (1894) and was the managing editor of the New Standard Dictionary (1913). He wrote a weekly column for Literary Digest for over thirty years, explaining questions of grammar, etymology, and usage. He wrote enthusiastically on matters of language in his own books, in interviews and letters to the editors of the New York newspapers, and he served as a language usage adviser to numerous radio stations.