George Law Cawkwell (25 October 1919 – 18 February 2019) was a

classical scholar 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 ...

who specialised in the

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in the 4th century BC.

Life and career

Born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, Cawkwell was educated at

King's College, Auckland King's College (Latin: ''Collegium Regis''; ), often informally referred to simply as Kings, is an independent secondary boarding and day school in New Zealand. It educates over 1000 pupils, aged 13 to 18 years. King's was originally a single s ...

, and became

head boy The two Senior Prefects, individually called Head Boy (for the male), and Head Girl (for the female) are students who carry leadership roles and are responsible for representing the school's entire student body. Although mostly out of use, in some ...

there. He attended the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

from 1938, gaining BA and MA degrees. He joined the army in 1942 during

World War II 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 ...

and fought with the Fijian Infantry in the Solomons in 1944. Cawkwell was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a 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 second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, studying at Christ Church. He played in the position of

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

for the national

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team, gaining his

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

in 1947. For most of his life, Cawkwell was a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

and

Praelector A praelector is a traditional role at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The role differs somewhat between the two ancient universities. University of Cambridge At Cambridge, a praelector is the fellow of a college who forma ...

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

. He was a Fellow from 1949 to 1987 and then became an

Emeritus ''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 ...

Fellow. He authored a number of books on ancient history. His students included the classical scholars Ernst Badian and

Raphael Sealey Bertram Raphael Izod Sealey (14 August 1927, Middlesbrough, England – 29 November 2013, Berkeley, California) was a classical scholar and ancient historian. Education Sealey graduated from Oxford University in 1947, then served in the British A ...

. He won the Runciman Award in 1998 for his book ''Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War''. Cawkwell was the first " Procurator" of University College, fund-raising for the 750th anniversary of the college in 1999. The George Cawkwell Fellowship in Ancient History has been established at the college. A boat in the University College Boat Club is also named after him. His portrait was painted by the artist Daphne Todd. George Cawkwell married Pat Clarke in 1945. The businessman and stock market commentator Simon Cawkwell (born 1946) is his son. Cawkwell died on 18 February 2019 at 99 years of age.

Selected books

Cawkwell's books include: * ''Philip of Macedon''.

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 1978. . * ''Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War''.

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 1997. . * ''The Greek Wars: The Failure of Persia''.

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 ...

, 2005. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cawkwell, George 1919 births 2019 deaths Writers from Auckland People educated at King's College, Auckland University of Auckland alumni New Zealand Rhodes Scholars New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players Fellows of University College, Oxford English classical scholars English historians Scholars of ancient Greek history Classical scholars of the University of Oxford New Zealand classical scholars Contributors to the Oxford Classical Dictionary Runciman Award winners Oxford University RFC players

Life and career

Selected books

See also

References