Michael Andrew Screech, FBA (2 May 1926 – 1 June 2018) was a cleric and a professor of French literature with special interests in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as ...

and Rabelais.__NOTOC__

Wartime service

In 1943, Screech entered

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

to read French but after a language aptitude test, he was sent to the secret Bedford Japanese School run by Captain

Oswald Tuck Instructor Captain Oswald Thomas Tuck (1 September 1876 – 26 February 1950) was a naval officer and teacher of Japanese. He served as a naval instructor in navigation and Japanese and later translated a confidential history of the Russo-Japan ...

RN. He was in the 8th course at Bedford (October 1944 to April 1945), and after completing it he was posted to the

Wireless Experimental Centre The Wireless Experimental Centre (WEC) was one of two overseas outposts of Station X, Bletchley Park, the British signals analysis centre during World War II. The other outpost was the Far East Combined Bureau. Codebreakers Wilfred Noyce and Mauri ...

, Delhi, India, which was an

outpost of Bletchley Park The "Y" service was a network of British signals intelligence collection sites, the Y-stations. The service was established during the First World War and used again during the Second World War. The sites were operated by a range of agencies inc ...

. After the Japanese surrender, he was posted to Japan and was stationed in Kure and Tottori as part of the

British Commonwealth Occupation Force The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) was the British Commonwealth taskforce consisting of Australian, British, Indian, and New Zealander military forces in occupied Japan, from 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952. At its pe ...

until 1947.

Academic career

In the years 1961–84 he was the Fielden Professor of French Language and Literature, at the University College, University of London. From 1993 to 2001 he was a Fellow of All Souls College. On retirement, he was ordained priest in the Church of England. From 2003 to 2018 he was Emeritus Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

, where he also served as Interim Chaplain. He was concurrently an extraordinary fellow of

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Wolfson is an all-graduate college, it prides itself on being one of the most international colleges at Oxford, with part ...

In 1992, he was honoured as a Chevalier in the

French Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. His translation of Montaigne's ''

Essays An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

'' has been widely recognized. His translation of the

François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , ; ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French writer who has been called the first great French prose author. A Renaissance humanism, humanist of the French Renaissance and Greek scholars in the Renaissance, Gr ...

novel series ''

Gargantua and Pantagruel ''The Five Books of the Lives and Deeds of Gargantua and Pantagruel'' (), often shortened to ''Gargantua and Pantagruel'' or the (''Five Books''), is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It tells the advent ...

'' was also described by Barbara C. Bowen as "faithful, lively, and readable ..the best to date; it preserves much of the sheer exuberance of the original, while incorporating essential background information missing from most of its predecessors."

Selected publications

M. A. Screech as author

* ''The Rabelaisian Marriage'' (Edward Arnold, 1958) * ''L'Evangélisme de Rabelais'' (Droz, 1959) * ''

Marot Marot ( Punjabi, ) is a city in Bahawalnagar District in Punjab, Pakistan. This city is situated at the border with India. This city is situated 50 km from Fort Abbas, 160 km from Bahawalnagar and 100 km from Bahawalpur. The popula ...

Evangélique'' (Droz, 1967) * ''

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

: Ecstasy and the Praise of Folly'' (Duckworth, 1980) * ''

and Melancholy'' (Duckworth, 1983) * ''A New Rabelais Bibliography: Editions of Rabelais Before 1626'' (Droz, 1987) * ''Some Renaissance Studies'' (Droz, 1992) * ''

Clément Marot Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet. He was influenced by the writers of the late 15th century and paved the way for the Pléiade, and is undoubtedly the most important poet at the court of Fr ...

, a Renaissance poet discovers the Gospel'' (E. J. Brill, 1993) * ''Laughter at the Foot of the Cross'' (Allen Lane/Penguin, 1997)

M. A. Screech as editor

* Joachim DuBellay, ''Les Regrets et autres Oeuvres Poétiques: suivis des Antiquitez de Rome ; plus Un songe, ou Vision sur le mesme subject'' (Droz, 1966). Joint editor: J. Joliffe. * François Rabelais, ''Pantagrueline Prognostication pour l'an 1533. Avec les Almanachs pour les ans 1533, 1535 et 1541. La grande et vraye Pronostication nouvelle de 1544'' (Droz, 1975)

Selected translations

: ''

'' (1991) * Rabelais: ''

'' (2006)

References

External links

The Rev Professor Michael Screech obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 19 July 2018. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Screech, Michael Andrew 1926 births 2018 deaths Literary critics of French 20th-century English Anglican priests French–English translators Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century translators Fellows of the British Academy