John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon

John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon, FBA (4 November 1901 – 18 September 1977) was an English ancient historian. He was a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford from 1927 to 1969, and President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies from 1968 to 1971.

Early life

Balsdon was born on 4 November 1901 in Bideford, Devon.[1] He was educated at Exeter School, Exeter. He studied classics at Exeter College, Oxford. In 1922, he was awarded first class honours in Mods,[2] and in 1924 he was also awarded first class honours in Greats.[3]

Academic career

Balsdon began his academic career as a teacher at Sedbergh School, then an all boys public boarding school. His first university post was as a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford.[1] From 1927, he was a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, where he taught Ancient History.[4] His research was primarily in Roman History.[5] In 1940, he was elected Junior Proctor of Oxford University; serving from March 1940 to March 1941.[6] In 1956, he was a candidate for the Rectorship of Exeter College, but lost out to Kenneth Wheare.[1] He served as President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies from 1968 to 1971.[1] He retired from full-time academia in 1969.[4] The same year he was elected an emeritus Fellow of Exeter College.[7]

He also wrote novels using the name Dacre Balsdon; his academic works gave his name as J. P. V. D. Balsdon.

He was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 1967.[4]

Bibliography

As J. P. V. D. Balsdon:

As Dacre Balsdon:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Obituary: Dr J. P. V. D. Balsdon". The Times. 21 September 1977. p. 16.
  2. ↑ "University News - Classical Moderations List". The Times. 10 April 1922.
  3. ↑ "University News - Oxford 'Greats' List". The Times. 30 July 1924.
  4. 1 2 3 "BALSDON, Dr (04/11/1901-18/09/1977)". Deceased Fellows. British Academy. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  5. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/dp/1842125931
  6. ↑ "University News: Election of Proctors at Oxford". The Times. 22 February 1940. p. 11.
  7. ↑ "University News: Oxford". The Times. 21 October 1969. p. 12.

Further reading


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.