Donald Geoffrey Charlton (born Bolton, 8 April 1925; died Tenerife, 22 December 1995) was a Professor of French at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

from 1964 to 1989.

Education and career

Charlton was educated at

Bolton School Bolton School is a private day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery (ages 0–4), co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including ...

and briefly went on to study philosophy at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

before joining the Royal Navy as an interpreter for French and German. After the War, he matriculated at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

to read modern languages. He graduated in 1948 with first-class honours, and was soon appointed as a lecturer at University College Hull (chartered as the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

in 1954). While lecturing at Hull, Charlton completed a PhD at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

supervised by H. J. Hunt. After fifteen years as a lecturer at Hull University (1949-1964), he was appointed the first Professor of French at Warwick University in 1964, remaining there until his retirement in 1989. In 1983 he delivered the

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford at the four ancient universities of Scotland: St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Their purpose is to "pro ...

at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. After his retirement he was presented with a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

: ''French Literature, Thought and Culture in the Nineteenth Century: A Material World'' (1993).

Works

As author

*''Positivist Thought in France during the Second Empire, 1852-1870'' (1959) *''Secular Religions in France, 1815-1870'' (1963) *''New Images of the Natural in France: A Study in European Cultural History 1750-1800'' (1984)

As editor

*''France: A Companion to French Studies'' (1972) *''The French Romantics'' (1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlton, Donald 1925 births 1995 deaths People educated at Bolton School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Hull Academics of the University of Warwick