Alexis Peter Vlasto (27 November 1915 4 November 1915 on the Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical calendar of the time– 20 July 2000) was a British historian and philologist, specialising in

Slavonic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was ...

Life

Alexis Peter Vlasto was born at Toxteth Park, at that time a prosperous quarter in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, a major port city in northwest England. He was the younger of the two recorded children (and the only son) of Peter Theodore Vlasto (1879–1941) by his marriage to Aziza Katherine Pallis. The Liverpool-based Vlastos at this time are described as a "family of Greek shipping agents". Vlasto attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, a prestigious English "public school" where he enjoyed the status of a "King's Scholar", before progressing in 1937 to

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he studied modern and medieval languages. As the veil of secrecy lifted, it became known that in 1939 Vlasto was one of those headhunted to work at the British code breaking establishment at

Bletchley Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, in the south-west of the city, split between the civil parishes in England, civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley, which In 2011 had a com ...

in central England. Given charge of the Japanese Army Air Force section, tasks included cracking the Japanese Army Air Force code system 3366. Others assigned to the challenge included

Maurice Wiles Maurice Frank Wiles, FBA (17 October 1923 – 3 June 2005) was an Anglican priest and academic. He was the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford from 1970 to 1991. Life and academic career Wiles was educated at the Tonbridge ...

and

Mervyn Jones Mervyn Thomas Jones (born 23 November 1942) is a British diplomat who was Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands from January 2000 to November 2002. Jones was succeeded by acting Governor Cynthia Astwood on 26 November 2002. Before taking up t ...

. Someone else with whom he renewed an acquaintance at Bletchley Park was the young musicologist, Hilda Joan "Jill" Medway, like him seconded from

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 ...

to undertake "war work".

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

ended in May 1945: Vlasto and Medway had already married, on 19 March 1945. By the end of 1945 they were back in Cambridge, where Jill Vlasto resumed her teaching role, directing studies in music at both the "recognised institutions for the higher education for women" (after 1948 women's colleges). Alexis accepted a research fellowship at his old college and pursued his studies, working towards a doctorate. Their home was large enough to accommodate a lodger. The harpsichordist

Thurston Dart Robert Thurston Dart (3 September 1921 – 6 March 1971) was an English musicologist, conductor and keyboard player. Along with Nigel Fortune, Oliver Neighbour and Stanley Sadie, he was one of Britain's leading musicologists of the post-World W ...

, like Jill Vlasto a pioneer champion of the "

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

revival", lodged with the Vlastos on the western fringes of the city during 1949/50. Mercedes-Benz W 110 Kombi

By this time the focus of Vlasto's own academic work was on

Slavonic Studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was ...

, a topic which the political concerns of the time had pushed up the national and academic agendas. Alexis Vlasto was one of those who participated, as part of a small but eminent group of scholars gathered together by the remarkable Elizabeth Hill, in the establishment of the Cambridge University Department of Slavonic Studies which opened in 1948. Vlasto finally received his PhD in 1953. He taught in the Department of Slavonic Studies at Cambridge from 1954 until his retirement in 1983. 1968 was a defining year in two contrasting respects. His book "The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom" was published. Its contribution to scholarship has stood the test of time. 1968 was also the year in which, on 15 September, Jill Vlasto died, aged just 52. In 1969 Alexis Vlasto was elected a fellow of

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield), Georg ...

. The Master of the college was

Owen Chadwick William Owen Chadwick (20 May 1916 – 17 July 2015) was a British Anglican priest, academic, rugby international, Retirement was gradual rather than sudden. Vlasto's other major work, "The Linguistic History of Russia", appeared in 1986 and continues to earn plaudits. In his final decades he was also able to devote more time to his principal long standing extra-curricular enthusiasms: music and botany. He had a deep knowledge of both subjects. In 1968 he collected seeds from a ''

Silene viscariopsis ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distri ...

'', an unusual plant he had found in what was then

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, and donated them to the University Botanic Garden. Plants grown from these seeds were distributed to botanical institutions around the world and opened the way to at least one significant research project. Alexis Vlasto died at

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 ...

on 20 July 2000.

Selected works

* * ''The Linguistic History of Russia'' (1986)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vlasto, Alexis P. 1915 births 2000 deaths People from Toxteth Academics from Liverpool Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Bletchley Park people Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge 20th-century British historians