Wolfgang Mieder is Professor of German and Folklore at the University of Vermont, where he served for 31 years as the chairperson of the Department of German and Russian. He is an internationally acknowledged proverb scholar, the author of the two-volume International Bibliography of Paremiology and Phraseology (2009), and the founding editor of Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship (since 1984). His numerous books and articles are concerned with cultural, folkloristic, historical, linguistic, literary, philological, social, and political topics.

«…Mieder cannot do wrong as far as the proverb is concerned…I have admired his work and his encyclopedic knowledge of the topic for a long time…» (W.F.H. Nicolaisen, University of Aberdeen)«Having done more for proverbs than anyone since Benjamin Franklin and Poor Richard, Wolfgang Mieder is still not finished with the subject…this (is a) charming…book.» (Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times Book Review)