Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Peter Edgar Corbett (19 June 1920 – 31 August 1992), was a British

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and

classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

Biography

Born in

Preston, Hertfordshire Preston is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about south of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the parish had a population of 425. History The village grew up around the Knigh ...

on 19 June 1920, Peter Corbett was educated at

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

and at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

. He was Thomas Whitcombe Greene Scholar and Macmillan Student in the

British School at Athens The British School at Athens (BSA; ) is an institute for advanced research, one of the eight British International Research Institutes supported by the British Academy, that promotes the study of Greece in all its aspects. Under UK law it is a reg ...

between 1947 and 1949, Assistant Keeper in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

between 1949 and 1961,

Yates Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology {{Notability, date=January 2024 The Yates Professorship of Classical Art and Archaeology is an endowed chair in classical archaeology at University College London. The chair is named in honour of James Yates (1789-1871), whose fortune was used t ...

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 ...

between 1961 and 1982, and President of 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 ...

between 1980 and 1983. Professor Peter Corbett died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 31 August 1992, aged 72.

Publications

*''The Sculpture of the Parthenon'', 1959 *''Greek Gods and Heroes'', 1974 *Articles in the ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'', ''Hesperia'', ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'', ''

British Museum Quarterly The ''British Museum Quarterly'' was a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the British Museum. It described recent acquisitions and research concerning the museum's collections and was published from 1926 to 1973. It is available electron ...

'', and the ''Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbett, Peter Edgar 1920 births 1992 deaths People educated at Bedford School Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Classical scholars of the University of London English classical scholars Employees of the British Museum English art historians Academics of University College London Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century English historians English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers