Joyce Maire Reynolds (18 December 1918 – 11 September 2022) was a British

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and academic, specialising in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

historical

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

. She was an

honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, 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 well as in m ...

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...

. She dedicated her life to the study and teaching of Classics and was first woman to be awarded the Kenyon medal by the British Academy. Among Reynolds' most significant publications were texts from the city of

Aphrodisias Aphrodisias (; grc, Ἀφροδισιάς, Aphrodisiás) was a small ancient Greek Hellenistic city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Anatolia, Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about east/inland from the ...

, including letters between Aphrodisian and Roman authorities.

Early life and education

Joyce Reynolds was born in Highams Park,

Greater London Greater may refer to: * Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film * Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 * Greater Bank, an Austra ...

, on 18 December 1918. Both her parents came from

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sou ...

. Her father, William Howe Reynolds, was a civil servant and her mother, Nellie Farmer, a school teacher. Her mother taught her to read and write. Joyce was educated at Walthamstow County Girls' School, and then St Paul's Girls School, where she won a scholarship. Her parents were anti-war, and banned Joyce from reading what they considered to be pro-war writers such as

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...

. Joyce did not excel at nor enjoy 'games' (Physical Education) at school. She studied Greats at

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, ...

, Oxford, having been awarded an exhibition between 1937 and 1941. She graduated with a first-class degree in 1944. During the war, from 1941 to 1946, Joyce worked as a temporary civil servant, first as an Assistant Principal at the Board of Trade, later Principal.“Joyce Reynolds Obituary”, ''The Times'' Tuesday September 20 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/joyce-reynolds-obituary-jtrj5jlh8

Career

From 1951 to 1979, Reynolds was Director of Studies in Classics at

, and from 1957 to 1983 she was lecturer in Classics at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. From 1983 to 1984 she was a Reader in Roman Historical Epigraphy at the University of Cambridge and she remained an honorary fellow of Newnham College. In 1982 she was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy. Reynolds' students included Mary Beard,

Pat Easterling Patricia Elizabeth Easterling, FBA (née Fairfax; born 11 March 1934) is an English classical scholar, recognised as a particular expert on the work of Sophocles. She was Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge from 1994 to 2001 ...

, MM McCabe and

Charlotte Roueché Charlotte Roueché (born 1946) is a British academic who specialises in the analysis of texts, inscribed or in manuscripts, from the Roman, Late Antique, and Byzantine periods. She is particularly interested in those from the Asia Minor cities ...

. In her nineties, Reynolds continued to work, playing a prominent role in the online publication of ''

Inscriptions of Aphrodisias Inscriptions of Aphrodisias was a project funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the British Academy that aimed to publish the inscriptions of the Greek ancient site of Aphrodisias (modern day Turkey) online. Apart from aiming for a digital publica ...

'' (available online), ''Roman

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

'' and ''

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

''. Although Reynolds no longer taught, she did not fully retire, and continued to produce academic research. She died on 11 September 2022, aged 103.

Honours

Reynolds was one of six British women born in 1918 or before featured in ''The Century Girls'', a book written by Tessa Dunlop to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote in the United Kingdom, which occurred in 1918. In 2004, Reynolds was awarded the Gold Medal of the Society of Antiquaries for distinguished services to archaeology. In 2017, Reynolds was awarded the

Kenyon Medal The Kenyon Medal is awarded every two years by the British Academy 'in recognition of work in the field of classical studies and archaeology'. The medal was endowed by Sir Frederic Kenyon and was first awarded in 1957. List of recipients SourceBri ...

by the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

"in recognition of a lifetime's contribution to the research and study of Roman epigraphy". She was the first woman awarded this medal. Reynolds received a Fellowship of

, in 1951. She was the oldest person to be awarded the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

(D.Litt.) from the

, on 20 June 2018. She was also an honorary Fellow of Somerville College. The Joyce Reynolds Award, a scholarship providing £10,000 towards the living costs of two Cambridge University classics undergraduates from under-represented backgrounds, was named after her. It was set up by Mary Beard, who was tutored by Reynolds.

Selected publications

* ''Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania'' 2021 edition, by J. M. Reynolds, C. M. Roueché, Gabriel Bodard and Caroline Barron (2021), , availabl
here
* ''Inscriptions of Roman Cyrenaica'', by J. M. Reynolds, C. M. Roueché, Gabriel Bodard (2020), , availabl
here
* ''Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania'', by J. M. Reynolds and J. B. Ward-Perkins, enhanced electronic reissue by Gabriel Bodard and Charlotte Roueché, with new translations by Joyce Reynolds and digital maps (2009). . Availabl
here
* Joyce Reynolds, Charlotte Roueché, Gabriel Bodard, ''Inscriptions of Aphrodisias'' (2007), , availabl
here
* * * *

References

External links

Celebrating Joyce Reynolds
��Conference
The Classics Cabal
at ''Apollo'', "the international arts magazine" {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Joyce 1918 births 2022 deaths British centenarians British classical scholars British women academics Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge Women classical scholars Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Women centenarians Presidents of The Roman Society People from Highams Park Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London