Peter Marshall Fraser, (6 April 1918 – 15 September 2007) was a classical scholar and historian specialising in the Hellenistic age of Greece. He was a Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

and acting

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

of the college from 1985 to 1987. He served as Director of the

British School at Athens , image = Image-Bsa athens library.jpg , image_size = 300px , image_upright= , alt= , caption = The library of the BSA , latin_name= , motto= , founder = The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, called the foundation meeti ...

from 1968 to 1971.

Early life

Fraser was born on 6 April 1918. He was brought up in Carshalton, Surrey. He was educated at the City of London School, boys'

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

day school in the City of London, England. He won a classical scholarship to

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

where he studied for mods the first part of '' Literae Humaniores''. His studies were interrupted by his military service in World War II. He returned to Oxford after the war. He wrote a thesis on

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Rhodes, which he entered for and won the prestigious

Conington Prize The Conington Prize is awarded annually by the University of Oxford. The cash prize is offered for a dissertation on a subject chosen by the writer and approved by the Board of the Faculty of Classics. The subject offered cycles through these fie ...

Military service

With World War II interrupting his studies, Fraser joined the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

, British Army in 1941. He was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 16 August 1941, having attended an Officer Cadet Training Unit. He was given the service number 201494. It was because of his knowledge and interest in Classical Greece, that he was recruited by the Special Operations Executive. Between 1943 and 1945, he was involved in the British Military Mission to Axis occupied Greece. On 12 July 1943, he parachuted into Greece near the town of Kalamata. He gradually moved through the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

to the Argolis and Corinthia Prefecture. There he spent the winter of 1943 and the spring of 1944. His mission was to arm and assist the 'officer bands', the non-communist guerilla groups. However, the pre-existing structure of the Greek People's Liberation Army meant that by October 1943 only the communist resistance were strong enough to continue the fight against the occupiers. Fraser described his relationship with the

EAM-ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...

as "the worst, since my original mission in that area was to try to find and, having found, to arm non-ELAS ' andartes' ". In 1944, he led a raid on a Nazi airfield near Argos, resulting in its successful destruction. By the end of the war, he was effectively the commander of Volos.

Academic career

In 1948, Fraser was made

University Lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct res ...

in Hellenistic History at the University of Oxford. As he was not made a fellow of one of the colleges at this time, he did not undertake tutorial teaching, but focused on research and lecturing. In the early 1950s, he taught undergraduates, including

George Forrest George Forrest may refer to: *G. Topham Forrest (George Topham Forrest, 1872–1945), principal architect for the London County Council *George Forrest (author) (1915–1999), American author and musician *George Forrest (botanist) (1873–1932), S ...

, early Roman history from a Greek perspective. In 1954, he was appointed Fellow of All Souls College, the post-graduate only college, where he would supervise doctoral students. He supervised Fergus Millar during his

D. Phil. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

Fraser was promoted to Reader in Hellenistic History in 1964. He gave the 1970 Master-Mind Lecture. He retired from his university lecture post in 1985 and from his college fellowship in 1987. He held a number of college appointments at All Souls. He was

Domestic Bursar A bursar (derived from " bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education ( ...

between 1962 and 1965. He was Sub-Warden from 1980 to 1982, and from 1985 to 1987, served as acting

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

of the college. He held the position in place of Patrick Neill during the first two years of his period as Vice-Chancellor. He held a number of positions outside the University of Oxford. He succeeded

Peter Megaw Arthur Hubert Stanley "Peter" Megaw, (20 July 191028 June 2006) was an architectural historian and archaeologist. He specialised in Byzantine churches. He served as Director of the Department of Antiquities (Cyprus), Department of Antiquities, ...

in 1968 as director of the

. He held the position to 1971. He was Visiting Professor of Classical Studies at Indiana University Bloomington for the academic year 1973 to 1974. He chaired the Society of Afghan Studies from 1972 to 1982.

Later life

Fraser was made an

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Fellow of

in 1995, a position he held till his death. He died on 15 September 2007, at the age of 89. He was survived by his six children and his third wife. His ashes were interred in the British Military Cemetery on the Greek island of

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It i ...

. His

grave stone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually Rock (geology), stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christianity, Christian, Judaism, Jewish, and Islam, Muslim religions, among others. ...

states:

Peter Marshall Fraser MC 6.4.1918 – 15.8.2007 Scholar Yet leaving here a name I trust That will not perish in the dust

Personal life

Fraser married three times and had six children. He first marriage was in 1940 to Catharine Heaton-Renshaw. They had four children together; one son and three daughters. They divorced. His second marriage was to Ruth Elsbeth Renfer in 1955. Together they had two sons. His final marriage was to Barbara Ann Stewart in 1973. They did not have children. One of his sons by Ruth, Alex Fraser (born 23 July 1959), followed his father into the academic world and is currently chief operating officer of the Cass Business School, City University London.

Honours

On 4 January 1945, Fraser was awarded the Military Cross (MC) 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field'.

In 1960, he was elected

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (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 the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA). He was awarded a number of honorary degrees: in 1984, an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. Phil) by the

University of Trier The University of Trier (german: Universität Trier), in the German city of Trier, was founded in 1473. Closed in 1798 by order of the then French administration in Trier, the university was re-established in 1970 after a hiatus of some 172 y ...

; in 1996, an Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by La Trobe University; and in 2002 an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) by the University of Athens.

References

External links

Obituary – The IndependentObituary – The Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Peter 1918 births 2007 deaths People educated at the City of London School Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy English classical scholars Seaforth Highlanders officers British Army personnel of World War II People from Carshalton Recipients of the Military Cross British Special Operations Executive personnel Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Alumni of Bayes Business School Wardens of All Souls College, Oxford Historians of antiquity Classical scholars of the University of Oxford Directors of the British School at Athens 20th-century British historians 20th-century English male writers British expatriates in Greece