John Harvard was a minister and philanthropist. He left a library of 400 volumes, and about 780 pounds sterling, to the college at Cambridge, Mass., which was later named after him. He was not the founder of Harvard University, but he gave the college its first large gift.

Harvard was born in London. He attended Cambridge University, and received B.A. and M.A. degrees. In 1636, he married Anne Sadler. The following year, he and his wife sailed to Massachusetts. They settled in Charlestown, where he became a minister of the Charlestown church.

SOURCE: IBM 1999 WORLD BOOK