Charles Henry Oldfather

Charles Henry Oldfather (* 13. June 1887 in Tabriz in Persia; † 20th August 1954 in Lincoln, Nebraska ) was an American classical scholar and historian , who from 1926 to 1951 as Professor of Ancient History at the University of Nebraska looked .

Life

Charles Henry Oldfather was born in Persia, where his parents Jeremiah M. Oldfather and Felicia Narcissa (née Rice) were Presbyterian missionaries. His older brother was the philologist William Abbott Oldfather (1880-1945).

Oldfather studied in the United States at Hanover College , where he completed his bachelor's degree in 1906 . He then went to McCormick Theological Seminary and acquired the title Doctor of Divinity (DD) here in 1911 . In order to deepen his studies, he went, like his brother before him, to the University of Munich in Europe (1911/1912). He got his first job as a lecturer at the English Syrian Protestant College in Beirut . In 1914 Oldfather returned to the USA and initially worked at small, private colleges: until 1916 as Professor of Classics at Hanover College, from 1916 as Professor of Greek Philology and Ancient History at Wabash College in the state of Indiana . At the University of Wisconsin – Madison he received his Ph. D. in 1922 with the dissertation The Greek Literary Papyri from Greco-Roman Egypt: A Study in the History of Civilization .

Oldfather found his position in life at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln , where he was Professor of Ancient History from 1926 . From 1929 to 1949 he was also chairman of the historical institute. In 1951 he retired; a year later he also gave up the Dean's Office of the College of Arts and Science , which he had held since 1931.

Since September 7, 1914, Oldfather was married to Margaret Kinsey McLelland.

Services

Oldfather was more of a classical philologist by training, but made a special contribution to ancient history and university administration. During his long tenure at the University of Nebraska, he faced the hardships of the Great Depression and World War II . In his honor, the university building, which houses the deanery and numerous teaching facilities of the College of Arts and Science , was renamed Oldfather Hall .

In his research, Oldfather dealt particularly with the Greek historians. His greatest work is the bilingual edition of Diodor's writings , which appeared in the Loeb Classical Library from 1933 . Oldfather completed six volumes by his death; the full edition now comprises a further six volumes.

literature

• Valdis Leinieks: Oldfather, Charles Henry . In: Ward W. Briggs (Ed.): Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists . Greenwood Press, Westport, CT / London 1994, ISBN 0-313-24560-6 , pp. 458f.

Web links

• Entry on Charles Henry Oldfather in the Database of Classical Scholars (English)