Elizabeth Mary Jeffreys (née Brown, 22 July 1941 – 12 September 2023) was a British scholar of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

. She was Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and a Professorial Fellow of

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, 1996–2006.

Life and career

Elizabeth Mary Brown was born on 22 July 1941 to Lawrence Brown and Veronica (née Thompson). She was educated at

Blackheath High School Blackheath High School is a private day school for girls in Blackheath Village in southeast London, England. It was founded in 1880 as part of the Girls' Day School Trust; the Senior School occupied a purpose-built site in Wemyss Road for ov ...

and

Girton College, Cambridge 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 un ...

, where she took an undergraduate degree in classics. In 1963 she came to Oxford to study for a

Bachelor of Letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second bachelor's degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been touched on in ...

(BLitt) in

medieval Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the ...

and French at St Anne's College, which she earned with a thesis on fourteenth-century romances. At Oxford she took classes in

modern Greek Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...

with Robin Fletcher. Jeffreys taught

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

Mary Datchelor School Mary Datchelor School was an endowed grammar school for girls on Camberwell Grove in Camberwell, Greater London, England. It was established in 1877 and closed in 1981. It was known for its innovations in encouraging teacher training, and for ...

in London from 1965, then took up a senior resident fellowship at the

Warburg Institute The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cros ...

, University of London, in 1969. At Warburg she attended the seminars of

Ernst Gombrich Sir Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich (; ; 30 March 1909 – 3 November 2001) was an Austrian-born art historian who, after settling in England in 1936, became a naturalised British citizen in 1947 and spent most of his working life in the United Ki ...

whom she cited as a formative influence. She spent 1972–74 at the

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and gardens of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife ...

Center for Byzantine Studies in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, where her husband Michael and then herself were visiting fellows for a year each, and where she participated in

Cyril Mango Cyril Alexander Mango (14 April 1928 – 8 February 2021) was a British scholar of the history, art, and architecture of the Byzantine Empire. He is celebrated as one of the leading Byzantinists of the 20th century. Mango was Koraes Profess ...

's seminar before his establishment in Oxford. In 1974 Elizabeth and Michael Jeffreys received appointments as research fellows at the

University of Ioannina The University of Ioannina (UoI; Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων, ''Panepistimio Ioanninon'') is a public university located in Ioannina, Greece. The university was founded in 1964, as a charter of the Aristotle University of ...

in Greece. The couple moved to Australia in 1976 where Elizabeth Jeffreys held research fellowships at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

(1978–79),

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

(1987–89) and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

(1991–95), while teaching at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

and the University of Sydney. Jeffreys and her husband were among the four founding members of the Australian (now Australasian) Association for Byzantine Studies in 1978 and played a key role in developing the discipline of Byzantine studies in Australia. She was briefly at Dumbarton Oaks again as a Fellow in 1983–84. In 1996 Jeffreys was appointed to the chair in Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature at Oxford, as the successor to Cyril Mango, and returned to the United Kingdom. She served as Sub-Rector of Exeter College in 1997–99, when the literary critic

Marilyn Butler Marilyn Speers Butler, Lady Butler, FRSA, FRSL, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (''née'' Evans; 11 February 1937 – 11 March 2014) was a British literary criticism, literary critic. She was King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at ...

was Rector. In 2006 she and

Anthony Bryer Anthony Applemore Mornington Bryer (31 October 1937 – 22 October 2016) was a British historian of the Byzantine Empire who founded the journal ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies'' and the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studie ...

convened the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies in London. She retired that year and remained in Oxford as Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature Emerita and Emerita Fellow of Exeter College. She held a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship in 2008–09 and continued to work on the first edition of the twelfth-century Byzantine court poetry conventionally attributed to Manganeios Prodromos. Jeffreys was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...

(1993) and a Honorary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Elizabeth Jeffreys died from complications of a stroke on 12 September 2023, at the age of 82.

Books

Authored

* ''Popular Literature in Late Byzantium'' (with Michael Jeffreys), London: Variorum Reprints, 1983. * ''The Age of the Dromon: The Byzantine Navy ca 500–1204'' (with John Pryor), Leiden:

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

, 2006.

Source editions and translations

* ''The Chronicle of John Malalas'' (tr. with Michael Jeffreys and Roger Scott), Melbourne: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 1986. *

Benoît de Sainte-Maure Benoît de Sainte-Maure (; died 1173) was a 12th-century French poet, most probably from Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine near Tours, France. The Plantagenets' administrative center was located in Chinon, west of Tours. ''Le Roman de Troie'' His 40,000 ...

, ''̔Ο Πόλεμος τῆς Τρωάδος (The War of Troy)'' (ed. with

Manolis Papathomopoulos Emmanuel (Manolis) Papathomopoulos (Greek: Εμμανουήλ "Μανόλης" Παπαθομόπουλος; 1930 – 20 April 2011) was a Greek classical philologist, Byzantinist and university professor, Professor of classical philology at the ...

), Athens:

National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation The Cultural Foundation of the National Bank (, ''Morfotiko Idryma Ethnikis Trapezis'', MIET) is a cultural foundation based in Athens founded in 1966. The Foundation was established under the administration of Georgios Mavros, as part of the 125th ...

, 1996.

Editio princeps In Textual scholarship, textual and classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts. These had to be copied by han ...

of the ''

Roman de Troie (''The Romance of Troy'') by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, probably written between 1155 and 1160,Roberto Antonelli "The Birth of Criseyde - An Exemplary Triangle: 'Classical' Troilus and the Question of Love at the Anglo-Norman Court" in Boitani, P. ...

''. * ''Digenis Akritis: The Grottaferrata and Escorial Versions'' (ed. and tr.), Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1998. * ''Iacobi Monachi Epistulae'' (ed. with Michael Jeffreys), Turnhout:

Brepols Brepols is a Belgian publishing house. Once, it was one of the largest printing companies in the world and one of the main employers in Turnhout (Belgium). Besides its printing business, Brepols is also active as a publisher. Formerly well known ...

, 2009. * ''Four Byzantine Novels: Theodore Prodromos, "Rhodanthe and Dosikles"; Eumathios Makrembolites, "Hysmine and Hysminias"; Constantine Manasses, "Aristandros and Kallithea"; Niketas Eugenianos, "Drosilla and Charikles"'' (tr.), Liverpool:

Liverpool University Press Liverpool University Press (LUP), founded in 1899, is the third oldest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. As the press of the University of Liverpool, it specialises in modern languages, lit ...

, 2012.

Edited

* ''Byzantine Papers: Proceedings of the First Australian Byzantine Studies Conference, Canberra, 17–19 May 1978'' (with Michael Jeffreys and Ann Moffatt), Canberra: Australian National University, 1981. * ''Studies in John Malalas'' (with Brian Croke and Roger Scott), Sydney: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 1990. * ''The Sixth Century: End or Beginning?'' (with Pauline Allen), Brisbane: Australian Association of Byzantine Studies, 1996. * ''Through the Looking Glass: Byzantium through British Eyes: Papers from the Twenty-Ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, London, March 1995'' (with Robin Cormack), Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000. * ''Rhetoric in Byzantium: Papers from the Thirty-Fifth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Exeter College, Oxford, March 2001'', Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003. * ''Approaches to Texts in Early Modern Greek: Anadromika kai prodromika: Papers from the Conference Neograeca Medii Aevi V, Exeter College, University of Oxford, September 2000'' (with Michael Jeffreys), Oxford: Sub-Faculty of Modern Greek, 2005. * ''Byzantine Style, Religion, and Civilisation: In Honour of

Sir Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman (7 July 1903 – 1 November 2000), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). His works had a profound impact on the popular ...

'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. * ''Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies'', with Robin Cormack and

John Haldon John Frederick Haldon FBA (born 23 October 1948 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a British historian, and Shelby Cullom Davis '30 Professor of European History emeritus, professor of Byzantine history and Hellenic Studies emeritus, as well as former ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2008. * ''Shipping, Trade and Crusade in the Medieval Mediterranean: Studies in Honour of John Pryor'' (with ), Farnham: Ashgate, 2012.

Notes

References

* * * *

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffreys, Elizabeth 1941 births 2023 deaths Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford British Byzantinists Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford Fellows of St Anne's College, Oxford Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Academics of the Warburg Institute People educated at Blackheath High School Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford Scholars of Medieval Greek Academic staff of the University of Sydney British classical scholars British women classical scholars Scholars of Byzantine literature British literary scholars Women Byzantinists British women medievalists Australian women historians Australian literary historians