Colin Hardie
Colin Hardie | |
---|---|
Born | 16 February 1906 Edinburgh, Scotland |
Died | 17 October 1998 Chichester, West Sussex, England | (aged 92)
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Spouse | Christian (m. 1940) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Prof William Hardie (father) W. F. R. Hardie (brother) |
Academic career | |
Discipline | Classics |
Sub-discipline | |
Institutions |
Colin Graham Hardie (16 February 1906 – 17 October 1998) was a British classicist and academic. From 1933 to 1936, he was Director of the British School at Rome. From 1936 to 1973, he was a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and a tutor in classics. In addition, from 1967 to 1973, he was the Public Orator of the University of Oxford. He was a member of the Inklings, an informal literary discussion group which included the likes of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.
Early life
[edit]Hardie was born on 16 February 1906 in Edinburgh, Scotland,[1] the third son of William Ross Hardie and his wife Isabella Watt Hardie (née Stevenson). His father was a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and Professor of Humanity at the University of Edinburgh.[2] His brother, Frank, also went on to become a successful classicist. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, a private school.[2] He then went on to study at Balliol College, University of Oxford as a Warner Exhibitioner and Honorary Scholar. He took firsts in both Mods (1926) and Greats (1928). He won four classical prizes during his undergraduate studies;[2] Ireland Scholar and Craven Scholar in 1925,[3] Hertford Scholar in 1926 and the Gaisford Prize for Greek Prose in 1927. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1928,[1] which was promoted to Master of Arts (MA) in 1931.[2]
Career
[edit]Upon graduation, Hardie was appointed to a Junior Research Fellowship in Balliol College, Oxford. He held the post from 1928 to 1929. In 1930, he was elected a Fellow and classical tutor of that college.[2] On 1 February 1933, he was unanimously elected Director of the British School at Rome.[1] He held the post until 1936, when he was succeeded by Ralegh Radford.[4] He returned to England from Italy to become a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and a tutor in classics.[5]
He took a break from his academic work during World War II. As many academics did, he lent his services to the War Office from 1941 to 1943.[5] He then went on to work at the Admiralty's Inter-Services Topographical Department, based in Oxford, until the end of the war in 1945.[1]
Following the war, he returned to Magdalen College. There he taught classics until his retirement in 1973.[2] His scholarly work was largely centred on Virgil and Dante. He was a member of the Inklings, the informal literary discussion group centred on the University of Oxford.[5] Hardie was also a part of the Socratic Club where he presented papers.[6] For the final six years of his time at the University of Oxford, from 1967 to 1973, he was the Public Orator; a role in which he acted as the voice of the university during public occasions such as royal visits and the presentation of honorary degrees.[1]
Photographs contributed by Hardie to the Conway Library are currently being digitised by the Courtauld Institute of Art, as part of the Courtauld Connects project.[7]
Later life
[edit]Following his retirement in 1973, Hardie and his wife moved away from Oxford to Rackham Cottage, near the village of Pulborough, Sussex.[1] From 1971 to 1990, he was the Royal Academy's Honorary Professor of Ancient Literature.[2]
He died in Chichester, West Sussex on 17 October 1998.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Hardie married Christian Viola Mary Lucas in 1940.[2] Together they had two sons, Nicholas and Anthony.[8] He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1945.[5]
Selected works
[edit]- Hardie, Colin, ed. (1954). Vitae Vergilianae Antiquae: Vita Donati, Vita Servii, Vita Probiana, Vita Focae, S. Hieronymi Excerpta. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Kepler, Johannes (1966) [1611]. De nive sexangula [The six-cornered snowflake] (in Latin and English). Translated by Colin Hardie. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 974730.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Ian Lowe (5 November 1998). "Obituary: Colin Hardie". The Independent. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "HARDIE, Colin Graham". Who Was Who. A & C Black. May 2009.
- ^ "University News: Ireland And Craven Scholarships". The Manchester Guardian. 14 December 1925.
- ^ "RADFORD, (Courtenay Arthur) Ralegh". Who Was Who. A & C Black. May 2009.
- ^ a b c d Cyril Bailey (2004). "Hardie, William Ross (1862–1916)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ Glyer, Diana (2007). The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community. Kent, OH: Kent State UP. ISBN 978-0-87338-890-0.
- ^ "Who made the Conway Library?". Digital Media. 30 June 2020. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ Green, Roger Lancelyn; Walter Hooper (2002). C.S. Lewis: A Biography (2 ed.). HarperCollins UK. p. 154. ISBN 9780006281641.