George Stuart Gordon
George Stuart Gordon (born February 1, 1881 in Falkirk , Scotland , † March 12, 1942 in Oxford , England ) was an English literary scholar and critic . He was Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1933 to 1938 .
life and work
George Stuart Gordon was born to the senior police officer and later prosecutor William Gordon and his wife Mary Napier. He had an older sister and several younger siblings. After attending the local school, he attended the University of Glasgow , where he graduated in 1903 with a master's degree in classical languages.
By the attention of his professor Walter Raleigh , he received a scholarship to the Oriel College of Oxford University , where he heard again classical philology. In 1906 he obtained his bachelor's degree there and in 1909 his master's degree. He expanded his subject areas, received the Stanhope Prize for history in 1905 and spent the winter of 1906/1907 in Paris for research purposes .
On his return to England, Magdalen College made him a fellow (also at Raleigh's instigation) ; he worked there as a tutor and editor for Oxford University Press .
In 1909 he married Mary Campbell Biggar, whom he knew from studying in Glasgow. The couple had four children.
In 1913 the University of Leeds appointed Gordon Professor of English Language and Literature.
During World War I, Gordon took up arms and served on the French front. In 1917 he was wounded and spent the remainder of the war in the military history department of the War Department. In 1919 he visited the battlefields of the Battle of Gallipoli , where he contracted a fever that would affect his health for life.
He regularly wrote reviews for the Times literary supplement, and has published editions of classical English literature (including several plays by William Shakespeare ) as well as book editions of his own lecture series and lectures. Together with EV Gordon and JRR Tolkien, he was one of a group of linguists who studied Icelandic and Old English idioms.
In 1922 he took over the Merton Professorship for English at Oxford University from his mentor Raleigh. In 1928 he was elected President of Magdalen College. He held this position until his death. From 1930 to 1933 he was also Gresham Professor of Rhetoric and from 1933 to 1938 Oxford Professor of Poetry. He has held numerous offices in professional associations and (professional) associations, including chairman of the BBC's Spoken English Committee . In 1935 he suffered a collapse in health and had to slow down significantly.
In 1938 he became vice chancellor of the university. Against the background of the impending outbreak of war, he stated that the university would be secure even in times of war (the university had to stop teaching in 1914). His term of office ended in October 1941.
He wanted to devote himself more to his research activities, a disease turned out to be cancer , to which he died soon after. He was buried in Holywell Cemetery , Oxford.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gordon, George Stuart |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British literary scholar |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 1, 1881 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Falkirk , Scotland |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 12, 1942 |
| Place of death | Oxford , England |