Graham Speake (born 9 June 1946, London) is a British classical philologist and

Byzantinist Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination ...

Education

After attending St Paul's School in London, Speake studied 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 ...

, where he won various prizes for, among other things, poetry in ancient Greek. He continued his studies at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, where he was awarded a doctorate for an unpublished dissertation on the Byzantine transmission of

ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, ar ...

Career

Speake was subsequently an academic publisher for forty years. His publications include the ''Penguin Dictionary of Ancient History'' (1995) and the two-volume ''Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition'' (2000). In 1996, he was elected Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

. Among other positions, he also worked for twelve years as a guest lecturer on Swan Hellenic Cruises. In 1988 he visited

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

for the first time, to which he subsequently made frequent pilgrimages. In 1990, with Derek Hill, he founded the

Friends of Mount Athos The Friends of Mount Athos (FoMA) is a society formed in 1990 by people who shared a common interest for the monasteries of Mount Athos. It is a registered charity in the United Kingdom (Registered Charity No. 1047287). People Timothy Ware, Me ...

society, under the patronage of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

. As of 2022, he is President of the society. In 1999, he was received into the

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

at Vatopedi Monastery. For his book ''Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise'' (2002) he received the 2002 Criticos Prize, awarded by the

Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic studies, Hellenic Studies, known as the Hellenic Society, was founded in 1879 to advance the study of Greek language, Greek literature, literature, Greek history, history, Greek art, art and Classical ar ...

. A second edition of the book was published in 2014.

Personal life

In the 1970s, he married Jennifer Speake (''née'' Jennifer Drake-Brockman), a Canadian writer who later became an editor at

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 ...

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speake, Graham Living people 1946 births Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Byzantinists Scholars of Byzantine history People associated with Mount Athos Writers from London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Hellenists Historians of Christianity Scholars in Eastern Orthodoxy English Eastern Orthodox Christians Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy