Edith Mary Smallwood (8 December 1919 – 4 September 2023) was a British historian and professor of Jewish history under the Romans at

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

Early life

Smallwood was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

(now

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) in December 1919. She received her education at the Mary Datchelor Girls’ School,

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

, and at

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

University of Cambridge 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 which she won a scholarship. She graduated with First Class Honours in Classics (1942), and was later a Research Fellow at Girton, gaining her PhD in 1951 under the supervision of Prof. Jocelyn Toynbee.

Career

Mary Smallwood was appointed lecturer in classics (in the Latin dept) at the Queen's University, Belfast, in 1951. She became senior lecturer in 1963, reader in 1967, and was awarded a personal chair as professor of Romano-Jewish History in 1978. For the 1971–72 academic year she was a member of the School of Historical Studies at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

, Princeton. She was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1972. She retired to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1983.

Death

Smallwood died at Cluny Lodge, Edinburgh on 4 September 2023, at the age of 103.

Bibliography

*''Philonis Alexandrini Legatio ad Gaium'' (edition with translation and commentary), Brill, 1961. *''Documents Illustrating the Principates of Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian'', Cambridge University Press, 1966. *''Documents Illustrating the Principates of Gaius, Claudius and Nero'', Cambridge University Press, 1967. *''The Jews under Roman Rule from Pompey to Diocletian: A Study in Political Relations'', Brill, 1976. *''From Pagan Protection to Christian Oppression'' (inaugural lecture), Queen's University, Belfast, 1979. *''Josephus, The Jewish War'' (first edition by G. A. Williamson revised with new Introduction, notes and appendices), Penguin, 1981. *''Rome: The Augustan Age'', Units 15 and 16, Studies II ''Judaea'', Open University, 1982

References

1919 births 2023 deaths 20th-century British historians Academics of Queen's University Belfast British women centenarians Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge People educated at Mary Datchelor School People from Wandsworth {{UK-historian-stub