Reginald Hackforth (17 August 1887 – 6 May 1957) was an English

classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, known mainly for his work on

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

, and from 1939 to 1952 was the second

Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy The Laurence Professorship of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University was established in 1930 as one of the offices endowed by the bequest of Sir Perceval Maitland Laurence; it is the oldest chair of ancient philosophy in the world. One woman, ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Life

Early life

Hackforth was born in London. After attending

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, Hackforth went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, in 1907, graduating in 1909 with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in both parts of the classical

tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

. He was John Stewart of Rannoch Scholar in 1907, Davies scholar in 1908 and won the Chancellor's Medal in 1909.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 7 May 1957

Academic career

After a brief period lecturing at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

(1910–12), Hackforth returned to Cambridge as a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Sidney Sussex College Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

in 1912, a position he held for the remainder of his life. For many years he served as editor of the ''Classical Quarterly'', winning the respect and friendship of J. D. Denniston and

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classics, classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed his final examination in ''literae humaniores'' and t ...

. Hackforth produced two chapters for the ''Cambridge Ancient History'' on the history of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

in part of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, which utilised his interpretation of the literary evidence of

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

Bacchylides Bacchylides (; ''Bakkhulides''; – ) was a Greek lyric poet. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets, which included his uncle Simonides. The elegance and polished style of his lyrics have been noted in Bacchylidea ...

and the

Epistles An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

. Hackforth was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

in 1946.British Academy Fellowship entry
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Personal

Hackforth was the younger son of J.P. Hackforth. In 1922 he married Lily Mines, daughter of H.R. Mines, H.M. Inspector of Schools,''Who Was Who'', London : A. & C. Black, 3rd ed., 1967, p. 466 who was buried with him in the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge after her own death in 1975. Hackforth's Cambridge address was 4 Selwyn Gardens. He died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, aged 69.

Publications

''The Authorship of the Platonic Epistles''
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1913. * ''The composition of'' ''Plato's'' ''Apology''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933. * ''Plato's examination of pleasure: a translation of the ''

Philebus The ''Philebus'' (Φίληβος, ''Phílēbos'') is a work by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, written in dialogue form. It presents a fictional conversation between Plato's teacher Socrates and two young Athenians, Philebus and Protarchu ...

'' with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1945 * ''Plato's '' Phaedrus'': translated with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952. * ''Plato's ''

Phaedo ''Phaedo'' (; , ''Phaidōn'') is a dialogue written by Plato, in which Socrates discusses the immortality of the soul and the nature of the afterlife with his friends in the hours leading up to his death. Socrates explores various arguments fo ...

'': translated with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1955.

References

1887 births 1957 deaths English classical scholars British scholars of ancient Greek philosophy Plato scholars Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics Laurence Professors of Ancient Philosophy {{UK-academic-bio-stub