John David Frodsham (5 January 1930 – 5 May 2016) was a British-born Australian academic who held posts in various areas of literary studies in Iraq, Malaya, Tanzania, and Australia. After studies at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, he worked at the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. History The College of Isl ...

before completing his doctorate 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 ...

with a thesis on

Xie Lingyun Xie Lingyun (; 385–433) and also known as the Duke of Kangle (康樂公) was one of the foremost Chinese poets towards the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties and continued in poetic fame through the beginning of the Six Dynasties, ...

. He was elected to 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 ...

in 1969. He became the Foundation Professor of English and Comparative Literature at

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its ...

as Foundation Dean of the School of Human Communication from 1973 to 1976. He conducted Murdoch courses incorporating Chinese culture and literature, and in public lectures about china and its culture. He retired from Murdoch in 2015, died in 2016, and was survived by children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. His best-remembered works are likely his translations of

Li He Li He ( – ) was a Chinese poet of the Tang poetry#Middle Tang, mid-Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Changji, and he is also known as Guicai and Shigui. He was prevented from taking the imperial examination due to a naming taboo. He died ve ...

, regarded as "the gold standard" for that poet, and still in print.

Selected works

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References

1930 births 2016 deaths Academic staff of Murdoch University Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge British expatriate academics Academic staff of the University of Baghdad Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities {{UK-academic-bio-stub