Reginald Hackforth (17 August 1887 – 6 May 1957) was an English classical scholar, known mainly for his work on

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...

, and from 1939 to 1952 was the second Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at

Cambridge University , 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 ...

Life

Early life

Hackforth was born in London. After attending

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

, Hackforth went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, in 1907, graduating in 1909 with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variat ...

in both parts of the classical

tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

. He was John Stewart of Rannoch Scholar in 1907, Davies scholar in 1908 and won the Chancellor's Medal in 1909.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' 7 May 1957

Academic career

After a brief period lecturing at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

(1910–12), Hackforth returned to Cambridge as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Sidney Sussex College in 1912, a position he held for the remainder of his life. For many years he served as editor of the ''Classical Quarterly'', winning the respect and friendship of J. D. Denniston and A. E. Housman. Hackforth produced two chapters for the ''Cambridge Ancient History'' on the history of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in part of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, which utilised his interpretation of the literary evidence of

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

, Bacchylides and the Epistles of

. Hackforth was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

in 1946.British Academy Fellowship entry
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Personal

Hackforth was the younger son of J.P. Hackforth. In 1922 he married Lily Mines, daughter of H.R. Mines, H.M. Inspector of Schools,''Who Was Who'', London : A. & C. Black, 3rd ed., 1967, p. 466 who was buried with him in the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge after her own death in 1975. Hackforth's Cambridge address was 4 Selwyn Gardens. He died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, aged 69.

Publications

''The Authorship of the Platonic Epistles''
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1913. * ''The composition of'' ''Plato's'' ''Apology''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933. * ''Plato's examination of pleasure: a translation of the '' Philebus'' with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1945 * ''Plato's ''

Phaedrus Phaedrus may refer to: People * Phaedrus (Athenian) (c. 444 BC – 393 BC), an Athenian aristocrat depicted in Plato's dialogues * Phaedrus (fabulist) (c. 15 BC – c. AD 50), a Roman fabulist * Phaedrus the Epicurean (138 BC – c. 70 BC), an Epic ...

'': translated with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952. * ''Plato's '' Phaedo'': translated with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1955.

References

1887 births 1957 deaths English classical scholars British scholars of ancient Greek philosophy Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics Laurence Professors of Ancient Philosophy {{UK-academic-bio-stub