Comfort was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania and raised a Quaker. He graduated from Haverford College in 1894 and received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1902 with the dissertation "The Development of the Character Types in the French Chansons de Geste".[2] Later he translated from Old French four 12th-century Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes (Modern Library, 1914) and the 13th-century Queste del Saint Graal (Quest of the Holy Grail). He was a polymath, with other written works on such topics as Quakerism, children's literature, and the poet William Cowper.[2]
Comfort served as President of Haverford College for 23 years, from 1917 to 1940, and was succeeded by journalist Felix Morley.[3]
He continued teaching until 1953, and died at his home on campus in 1955. He was survived by his wife of 53 years, Mary (née Foles), five children,[4][5] and several grandchildren, including a mathematician named after him (de:W. Wistar Comfort).[6][7] His personal papers are held at Haverford.[2]
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