Frederick Julius Pohl (August 18, 1889 – February 21, 1991) was a prolific playwright, literary critic, editor and book author.
He is best known for his books espousing speculative and controversial historical theories of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact by Europeans, including the Vikings and others.
He graduated from Amherst College in 1911 and from Columbia University in 1914 with a Master of Arts.
In a review of Pohl's The Viking Settlements of North America Einar Haugen points out that Pohl's interpretation of the Vinland Map, now proven to be a hoax, "puts the Vikings in Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico.
Haugen says that "On every page the author asserts that some notion has been "proved" beyond doubt or confirmed by "unquestionable evidence" when in fact the proof is achieved bt neglecting counterevidence or by sheer fiat.