Eugénie Jane Andrina Henderson (2 October 1914 – 27 July 1989) was a British

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and academic, specialising in

phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...

. From 1964 to 1982, she was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Phonetics 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 ...

. She served as Chair of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain from 1977 to 1980, and President of the

Philological Society The Philological Society, or London Philological Society, is the oldest learned society in Great Britain dedicated to the study of language as well as a registered charity. The current Society was established in 1842 to "investigate and promote ...

from 1984 to 1988.

Early life and education

Henderson was born on 2 October 1914 at Rose Villa, Archbold Terrace,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, England. R. H. Robins, "Henderson , Eugénie Jane Andrina (1914–1989)", ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 26 Nov 2017
/ref> She was the daughter of William Alexander Cruickshank Henderson, a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

, and his wife Pansy Viola (''née'' Schürer)."Henderson, Prof. Eugénie Jane Andrina", ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 201
accessed 26 Nov 2017
/ref> She was educated in London. She studied English at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, graduating with first class

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree. Daniel Jones, one of her lecturers, "encouraged her to study the phonetics of south-east Asian languages".

Academic career

In 1936, Henderson became an adviser on the pronunciation of names in foreign languages at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. In 1937, she was appointed a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in the Department of Phonetics of

. With the outbreak of 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 ...

, she joined the civil service: she worked in the

Ministry of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. Ministers of Economic Warfare, 1939 ...

as a temporary assistant principal between 1939 and 1941. When Japan entered the war in late 1941, the British government realised that there was an urgent need for language training. She therefore returned to academia and was appointed a lecturer in

at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

in 1942. The Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, to which she was assigned, spent the rest of the war teaching Japanese and other Far Eastern languages to military personnel. In 1946, the Department of South-East Asia and the Islands was re-established and expanded. Lecturers appointed to this department were also members of the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics where they were supervised by Henderson. She was promoted to senior lecturer in Phonetics in 1946. She was appointed Reader in Phonetics in 1953. In 1954, she was a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

Rangoon University The University of Yangon (also Yangon University; , ; formerly Rangoon College, University of Rangoon and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University), located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern education system and the b ...

, and undertook

fieldwork Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct f ...

in the Bwe Karen and

Chin The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a we ...

languages. From 1960 to 1966, she was the acting head of the Department of South-East Asia and the Islands. She was made

of Phonetics in 1964; this was made into an established chair two years later. She was head of the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics between 1966 and 1970. She retired in 1982 and was appointed

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

by the University of London. Outside of her university positions, Henderson held a number of positions. She was treasurer of the

from 1965 or 1966 to 1974. She later served as its president, heading the organisation between 1984 and 1988. She also served as Chair of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain from 1977 to 1980.

Personal life

On 8 January 1941, Henderson married George Meier; she continued to use her

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" ...

professionally. Together they had five children: one daughter and four sons. On 27 July 1989, Henderson died at her home in Camden, London and was buried on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

Honours

Henderson was made an

honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of the

in 1985. In 1986, she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences. In 1989, 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 ...

was published in her honour. It was titled ''South-East Asian Linguistics: Essays in Honour of Eugenie J.A. Henderson'' and was edited by Jeremy H. C. S. Davidson.

Selected works

* * * * *The papers and correspondence of Eugenie Henderson are held b
SOAS Archives
Digitised materials from the collection can be viewed onlin
here

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Eugenie Jane Andrina 1914 births 1989 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Linguists from England Phoneticians British women linguists Fellows of the British Academy People from Newcastle upon Tyne Alumni of University College London Academics of University College London Academics of SOAS University of London Civil servants in the Ministry of Economic Warfare Presidents of the Philological Society