John Penrose Barron

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John Penrose Barron (born April 27, 1934 in Morley , West Yorkshire , † August 16, 2008 in London ) was a British Graecist , classical archaeologist , numismatist and epigraphist and Master of St Peter's College , Oxford .

Life

Barron was the only child of George Barron, Head of Mathematics at Morley Grammar School, and (Minnie) Leslie, nee Marks, the daughter of a building contractor who came from a long-established Cornish family. So Barron spent his childhood summer vacations regularly and happily at St Just in Penwith .

After attending Wakefield Grammar School and Clifton College in Bristol , Barron studied from 1953 to Literae Humaniores at Balliol College , Oxford, and obtained a First Class BA in 1957. His tutors were Kenneth Dover , Gordon Williams and Russell Meiggs . In 1961 he received his doctorate with a dissertation on the early history of Samos with Antony Andrewes .

From 1959 to 1961 Barron held a position as assistant lecturer for Latin at Bedford College in London , from 1961 to 1964 in the same function as a lecturer. From 1964 to 1967 he was a lecturer in Archeology at University College London , from 1967 to 1971 as a reader in Archeology and Numismatics. In 1968 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London .

In 1971 he became Professor of Greek Language and Literature at King's College London , a position he held until 1991. There he was Head of the Classics Department from 1972 to 1984 and Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1976 to 1980. From 1984 to 1991 he was also Director of the Institute of Classical Studies at London University . From 1987 to 1989 he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor, from 1989 to 1991 Dean of the University of London Institute of Advanced Studies and from 1989 to 1993 a member of the Universities Funding Council under the Conservative Governments of Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major . As its member, he created the Barron Report, named after him, in which he proposed that the university Classics departments be merged into fewer, but stronger units. However, with this proposal, which also resulted in closings, he aroused much opposition. However, he was also one of the decisive forces behind the establishment of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Senate House, the current School of Advanced Study .

In 1991 he was promoted to a Masters degree from St Peter's College, Oxford, a position he held until his retirement in 2003. In parting he was made an Honorary Fellow of St Peter's College. From Oxford 1997 to 2000 he was also a member of the Oxford colleges' admissions committee, pushing to attract a wider range of applicants. Barron thus held key positions during the transformation of the UK university system in the 1980s and 1990s.

After his retirement he held various tasks, including that of the chairman of the Lambeth Palace Library Committee. He was one of the organizers of an exhibition of the collection of Greek manuscripts in the Lambeth Palace Library on the occasion of the 21st International Byzantine Congress from 22nd to 23rd August 2006 in London. He remained associated with King's College London and the School of Advanced Study as a visiting professor and senior research fellow, respectively.

Barron was a staunch Anglican . He wrote a guide to the churches in the City of London . His last publications were on the very first institution of higher education in Oxford, the Scholar House at St George's Collegiate Church in Oxford Castle , founded in 1074.

Barron was married to Caroline Hogarth (* 1940), a granddaughter of the archaeologist David George Hogarth , since 1962 . As a professor at Royal Holloway College, she was one of the leading historians of medieval London under the name of Caroline Barron . They had two daughters, Catherine (Katie) and Helen. Barron is buried in St Just in Penwith.

Research priorities

The main research areas were early Greek literature (especially Ibykos ) and history as well as classical archeology ( thanks to him a repeated introduction to Greek sculpture ) and numismatics , especially the island of Samos .

Fonts (selection)

Monographs

  • The history of Samos to 439 BC D. Phil. Thesis, University of Oxford, 1961. - Oxford University Research Archive: Abstract .
  • Introduction to Greek Sculpture. Athlone Press, London 1965; extended, revised and updated version 1981; Reprinted by Schocken Books, 1984. - Review by Hugh Plommer, in: Classical Review 33, 1983, pp. 91-92, (online) .
  • Silver Coins of Samos. Athlone Press, London 1966. - Partial publication of the dissertation; By Hugh Plommer, in: Classical Review 17, 1967, pp. 212-214, (online) ; L. Lacroix, in: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire 45, 1967, pp. 497-500, (online) .
  • The noble lie and the politics of reaction. Inaugural lecture in the chair of Greek language and literature at the University of London, Kings College, June 5th, 1972. University of London, King's College, London 1974.
  • with Patricia E. Easterling : Hesiod . In: PE Easterling, Bernard MW Knox (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature. Volume 1: Greek Literature . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1985, pp. 92-105, (online) .
  • with Patricia E. Easterling: The epic tradition after Homer and Hesiod: The cyclic epics. Ibidem, pp. 106-116.
  • with Patricia E. Easterling: Elegy and Iambus: Early Greek Elegy: Callinus, Tyrtaeus, Mimnermus. Ibidem, pp. 117-164.

items

  • The sixth-century tyranny at Samos . In: The Classical Quarterly 14, 1964, pp. 210-229, (online) .
  • The Fifth – Century Diskoboloi of Kos. In: CM Kraay, GK Jenkins (Eds.), Essays in Greek Coinage Presented to Stanley Robinson. Oxford 1968, pp. 75-89.
  • Ibycus: To Polycrates. In: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 16, 1969, pp. 119-149.
  • New light on old walls. The murals of the Theseion. In: Journal of Hellenic Studies 92, 1972, pp. 20-45.
  • The fifth-century horori of Aigina. In: Journal of Hellenic Studies 103, 1983, pp. 1-12.
  • Ibycus: Gorgias and other poems. In: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 31, 1984, pp. 13-24.
  • The Silver Coins of Samos. In: G. Le Rider et al. (Ed.), Kraay – Mørkholm Essays. Numismatic Studies in Memory of CM Kraay and O. Mørkholm. Louvain-la-Neuve, 1989, pp. 9-22.
  • with Clare Brown: Constantinople and Canterbury: contact and collaboration. In: Lambeth Palace Library (ed.): The Greek manuscript collection of Lambeth Palace Library. Lambeth Palace Library, London 2006. - (See also: The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway: A Catalog of the Greek Manuscript Collection of Lambeth Palace Library ).

Others

  • Scunthorpe Museum and Art Gallery. Normanby Hall Gallery (Ed.): The curious world of Charles Uppleby. An exhibition of watercolors by Charles Uppleby, Esquire, of Barrow Hall 1779-1853, at Normanby Hall Gallery summer & autumn 1970. Descriptive and explanatory notes by John & Caroline Barron. (By kind permission of the owners, Mr. & Mrs. John Barron). Scunthorpe Corp. Scunthorpe 1970.
  • with Alexandra Moore: City of London Churches. A Walker's Guide. Illustrated by Gerrard Prue. Barron & Moore, 1998, ISBN 0-9532798-0-4 .
  • The St George's Hours. In: Bodleian Library Record 20.1-2, April-October 2007.

literature

  • Lawrence Goldman: Barron, John Penrose (1934-2008) , in: Lawrence Goldman (Ed.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2013, pp. 66-68.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Barron, John Penrose
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Graecist, Classical Archaeologist and Numismatist and Masters degree from St Peter's College, Oxford
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Morley , West Yorkshire
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 2008
Place of death London