George Ticknor (August 1, 1791 – January 26, 1871) was an American academician and Hispanist, specializing in the subject areas of languages and literature.

He received his early education from his father, Elisha Ticknor, former headmaster of the Franklin Grammar School, a grocer, and a founder of the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the system of free primary schools in Boston, and the first New England savings bank, Provident Institution for Savings.

Ticknor opened an office in Boston, but practiced for only one year,[2] satisfying himself that his vocation, or at least his taste, lay in the direction of letters rather than of law.

After that, he remained two years longer in Europe, chiefly on the continent, spending most of his time in the capitals of France, Spain and Portugal, where he conducted critical studies of the national literatures.

[3] During his professorship Ticknor advocated the creation of departments, the grouping of students in divisions according to proficiency, and the establishment of the elective system.

[4] Ticknor moved into half of the home built by Thomas Amory at the corner of Beacon and Park Streets in 1829; it became known as the Amory-Ticknor House.

[5] After his return to Europe, Ticknor devoted himself to the chief work of his life, the history and criticism of Spanish literature.

Ticknor developed in his college lectures the scheme of his more permanent work, which he published as the History of Spanish Literature (New York and London, 3 volumes, 1849).

The second American edition appeared in 1854; the third, corrected and enlarged, in 1863; the fourth, containing the author's last revision, in 1872, under the supervision of George Stillman Hillard; and the sixth in 1888.