Edward John Kenney (29 February 1924 – 23 December 2019), usually known as E. J. Kenney, was a British

Latinist Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...

who served as the

Kennedy Professor of Latin The Kennedy Professorship of Latin is the senior professorship of Latin at the University of Cambridge. In 1865, when Benjamin Hall Kennedy retired as headmaster of Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), pu ...

until his retirement in 1984. Specialising in transmission and

textual criticism Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may rang ...

, he was considered a leading expert on the work of

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

and

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( ; ; – October 15, 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem '' De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, which usually is t ...

. He spent the majority of his career at

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 ...

, where he was an emeritus fellow of

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

until his death in 2019.

Biography

Kenney was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

in Britain and India. He then went on to read Classics at

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 ...

, and was awarded a BA in 1949. After a brief spell as assistant lecturer at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, Kenney returned to Cambridge, first as a research fellow at Trinity College and from 1953 as a fellow of

. In 1974, he was named the seventh

, an appointment which he held until his retirement in 1982. In addition to his post at Cambridge, Kenney has held visiting positions at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

. From 1959 to 1965 he served as the editor of ''

Classical Quarterly The Classical Association (CA) is an educational organisation which aims to promote and widen access to the study of classical subjects in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1903, the Classical Association supports and advances classical learning ...

'', while the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

elected him to a fellowship in 1968. He was elected foreign member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 1976. He was known for his exacting but constructive criticism. When interviewing candidates for admittance to the college, he would assess them using the "Fufu test". His pet cat Fufu would be on the candidate's chair and they would be judged by the manner in which they treated it. The more kindly they treated the cat, the more likely they were to be admitted.

Selected publications

* ''P.Ovidi Nasonis: Amores; Medicamina Faciei Femineae; Ars Amatoria; Remedia Amoris'', Oxford, 1961. * ''Ovidiana Graeca'', with P. E. Easterling, Cambridge Philological Society, 1965. * ''Lucretius: De Rerum Natura III'', Cambridge, 1971, 2014². * ''The Cambridge History of Classical Literature II: Latin Literature'', (ed.) with W. V. Clausen, Cambridge, 1982. * ''Apuleius: Amor and Psyche'', Cambridge, 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, Edward John Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics 1924 births 2019 deaths British Latinists Fellows of the British Academy Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People educated at Christ's Hospital Kennedy Professors of Latin Academics of the University of Leeds