Kenneth Sisam (2 September 1887 – 26 August 1971) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

academic and publisher, whose major career was as an employee of the

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 ...

Life

Born at

Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council, the mayor of Ōpōtiki and comes under the Bay of Plenty Region ...

in 1887, Sisam was the eighth and youngest child of Alfred John Sisam, a police officer and farmer, and his wife Maria Knights. He was educated at

Auckland Grammar School Auckland Grammar School (often simplified to Auckland Grammar, or Grammar), established in 1869, is a State school, state, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding secondary school for Single-sex education, boys in Auckland, New Zealand. ...

, and entered University College, Auckland, in 1906 with a scholarship, where he graduated MA in 1910. With a

Rhodes scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international 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. Established in 1902, it is ...

, Sisam matriculated at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, in 1910. He completed a B.Litt. there under Arthur Napier in 1915, producing an edition of the Salisbury Psalter. He married that year. In this period he taught students including

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

. Poor health ruled out military service, and he went to work part-time on the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

''. In 1916, he published on the ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'' manuscript. In 1917, the Sisams moved to London, where Kenneth worked as a civil servant. In 1922, he joined Oxford University Press (OUP). With his promotion to assistant secretary, they built a family house at Boars Hill. From 1922 to 1942 Sisam worked at OUP under Robert William Chapman while developing his scholarly work on Anglo-Saxon, but failing in 1925 to become

Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon The Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, until 1916 known as the Rawlinsonian Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, was established by Richard Rawlinson of St John's College, Oxford, in 1795. The Chair is associated with Pembroke College ...

(when Tolkien was chosen). OUP successes under his stewardship include introducing 30 new titles to the

Oxford World's Classics Oxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards and purchased by OUP in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for students and the general public. ...

series; the creation of the ''Oxford Companion to English'' and the ''Oxford Latin Dictionary''; and the recruitment of

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

as editor of ''The Oxford Book of Modern Verse.'' Sisam was elected to the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies 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 sa ...

in 1941. Appointed OUP secretary in succession to Chapman in 1942, he became a Fellow of Merton College. In 1948, he retired to the

Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point, and has the souther ...

but continued to produce scholarship, including an influential article on '

Anglo-Saxon Royal Genealogies A number of royal genealogies of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, collectively referred to as the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies, have been preserved in a manuscript tradition based in the 8th to 10th centuries. The genealogies trace the succession of th ...

' (Reprinted as ) and ''The Structure of Beowulf'' (1965). He died in a nursing home at

Lelant Lelant () or Uny Lelant is a village in the civil parish of St Ives in, west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the west side of the Hayle Estuary, about southeast of St Ives and one mile (1.6 km) west of Hayle.Ordnance Survey: Landranger ...

in Cornwall on 26 August 1971.

Family

In 1915, Sisam married Naomi Irene Gibbons (1886–1958), daughter of Robert Pearce Gibbons, from

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 ...

. They had a son, Hugh, and a daughter, Celia (born 1926), who became a scholar of Anglo-Saxon.

References

External links

Letter written by Kenneth Sisam, 27 May 1937
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sisam, Kenneth 1887 births 1971 deaths Oxford University Press people Linguists from New Zealand New Zealand Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy 20th-century linguists People from Ōpōtiki