Charles DeKay
United States linguist, poet, critic and fencer (1848-1935)
- Born
- 25 July 1848, Washington, D.C.
- Died
- 23 May 1935, New York City
- Citizenship
- United States
- Sport
- fencing
- Occupation
- fencer, journalist, poet, linguist, writer
Charles Augustus de Kay (July 25, 1848 – May 23, 1935) was a linguist, poet, critic, and fencer. He was a son of George Coleman De Kay, a naval officer.
He was best known for founding the National Sculpture Society, the Authors' Club, the National Arts Club and the Fencers Club. He was inducted into the United States Fencing Hall of Fame in 2008. He was an art and literary critic for The New York Times for 18 years. He was a co-founder of the Circle of Friends of the Medallion.
He also wrote under the pseudonyms "Henry Eckford" and "Louis Barnaval".
In June 1894, he was nominated by Grover Cleveland to be Consul General at Berlin and took over the post shortly thereafter. In keeping with his lifelong love of fencing, he had the honor of opening the fencing club in Berlin while serving as Consul General.
He was buried in Saint George's Church Cemetery, Hempstead, New York.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q5076781 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.