Clyde Pharr (17 February 1883 – 31 December 1972) was an American classics professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, Southwestern Presbyterian University (now

Rhodes College Rhodes College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Sout ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

(where he was head of the classics department for many years), and, finally, at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

Early life

Pharr was born in Saltillo, Texas, the son of Samuel Milton Pharr and Josephine Fleming Pharr. He attended Saltillo High School and earned B.S. and A.B. degrees from East Texas Normal College (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) in 1903 and 1905, respectively. He continued his education at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, earning another A.B. (with Honors and election to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

) there in 1906. He was named an Abernathy Fellow at Yale, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1910. From 1910–12, he had a fellowship at the American Institute of Archaeology in Athens, and while abroad he studied at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

and other European universities.

Career

Pharr's first faculty appointment was as Assistant Professor of Latin and Greek at Ohio Wesleyan University where he served from 1912–17. From 1917–18 he was the legal advisor to a draft board; immediately after that he returned to academia at Southwestern Presbyterian University where he taught until 1924, with a break in the 1920–21 academic year to be an

American Field Service AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professional ...

Fellow at the University of Paris. He left Southwestern Presbyterian University in 1924 to become an associate professor at Vanderbilt. Pharr was on the Vanderbilt faculty from 1924–50 and was a full professor and head of the Department of Classics from 1928–50. Pharr developed a national reputation through his textbooks for Greek and Latin, some of which remain in print. Later, Pharr turned his attention to

Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...

and was general editor of the first translation of the Codex Theodosianus into English. In 1950, he left Vanderbilt for the University of Texas at Austin where he was a visiting professor from 1950-1953, Research Professor of Roman Law from 1953-1966, and Professor Emeritus of Classical Languages from 1966-1972. The Theodosian Code translation was very favorably received and has been thought likely to be the only translation into English ever made of this important document. Pharr had intended to oversee translation into English of "the entire body of Roman law", including the Codex Justinianus (Justinian Code), using a draft by Justice Fred H. Blume as its basis, but various problems prevented him from bringing this project to fruition. When Pharr died in 1972 only the Codex Theodosianus translation and a volume of pre-Theodosian laws had been published. Exactly one week after his wife's death, Pharr died in an Austin hospital on December 31, 1972.

Writings

Algernon Sidney, 6 POTTER’S AMERICAN MONTHLY 333-341 (May 1876). Granada and the Alhambra, 1 (new series), 27 (old series) LIPPINCOTT’S MAG. OF POPULAR LITERATURE & SCI. 425-435 (May 1881). Cordova, 2 (n.s.), 28 (o.s.) LIPPINCOTT’S MAG. POPULAR LITERATURE & SCI. 334-344 (Oct. 1881). Seville, 3 (n.s.), 29 (o.s.) LIPPINCOTT’S MAG. POPULAR LITERATURE & SCI. 9-20 (Jan. 1882). Pictures of Andalusia, 18 POTTER’S AM. MONTHLY 121-131 (Feb. 1882). Tunis and Carthage (part 1), 18 POTTER’S AM. MONTHLY 481-491 (May 1882). Tunis and Carthage (part 2), 18 POTTER’S AM. MONTHLY 601-610 (June 1882). Toledo, 3 (n.s.), 29 (o.s.) LIPPINCOTT’S 529-540 (June 1882). Sargossa, 5 (n.s.), 31 (o.s.) LIPPINCOTT’S 113-122 (Jan. 1883). A National Pastime, 3 THE CONTINENT 387-396 (March 28, 1883). THROUGH SPAIN: A NARRATIVE OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE IN THE PENINSULA. (Lippincott 1886; photoreprint British Library Historical Print editions 2011). HISTORY OF THE MOORISH EMPIRE IN EUROPE (Lippincott 1904; photoreprint AMS Press 1977) (3 vols.). Foreign Legislation, Jurisprudence and Bibliography—Spain, 1 ANN. BULL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 64-65 (1908). Foreign Legislation, Jurisprudence and Bibliography—Spain, 2 ANN. BULL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 144-145, 152-153 (1909). Spanish Jurisprudence Comparatively Considered, 2 ANN. BULL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 14-25 (1909). Spanish Criminal Law Compared with that Branch of Anglo-Saxon Jurisprudence, 3 ANN. BUL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 62-80 (1910). Foreign Legislation, Jurisprudence and Bibliography—Spain, 3 ANN. BULL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 201-203 (1910). Foreign Legislation, Jurisprudence and Bibliography—Spain, 4 ANN. BULL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 167-168 (1911). Foreign Legislation, Jurisprudence and Bibliography—Spain, 5 ANN. BULL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 160-161 (1912). Foreign Legislation, Jurisprudence and Bibliography—Spain, 6 ANN. BULL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 112-114 (1913). Foreign Legislation, Jurisprudence and Bibliography—Spain, 7 ANN. BULL. COMP. L. BUREAU A.B.A. 185-186 (1914). THE VISIGOTHIC CODE (FORUM JUDICUM). (Boston Book Co. 1910; photoreprint Rothman 1982.) THE LAWS OF ANCIENT CASTILLE and THE CRIMINAL CODE OF SPAIN (unpublished manuscripts, noted in 38 ANN. REP. A.B.A. 883 (1915). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 1 A.B.A.J. 164-166 (1915). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 2 A.B.A.J. 275-277 (1916). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 3 A.B.A.J. 265-269 (1917). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 4 A.B.A.J. 207-208 (1918). Practice in the Courts of Ancient Rome, 24 CASE & COMMENT 687-699 (1918). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 5 A.B.A.J. 301-304 (1919). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 6 A.B.A.J. 337-340 (1920). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 7 A.B.A.J. 200 (1921). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 8 A.B.A.J. 248-249 (1922). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 9 A.B.A.J. 262 (1923). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 10 A.B.A.J. 284-285 (1924). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 11 A.B.A.J. 262-263 (1925). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 12 A.B.A.J. 339-340 (1926). European Literature and Legislation—Spain, 13 A.B.A.J. 230-231 (1927). LAS SIETE PARTIDAS (Commerce Clearing House & Comparative Law Bureau, Am. Bar. Assoc. 1931; modified reprint U. Penn. Press 2001)(5 vols.)). THE CIVIL LAW (Central Trust Co. 1931 (17 vols.); photoreprint AMS Press 1973 (7 vols.); photoreprint Law Book Exchange (2001)(7 vols.)).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pharr, Clyde 1883 births 1972 deaths American classical scholars Yale University alumni Vanderbilt University faculty Classical scholars of the University of Texas at Austin Scholars of Roman history