Richard Broxton Onians (1899–1986) was a

classicist 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 ...

and Hildred Carlile Professor of Latin in the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

.''Available online to subscribers, or in print'' His major publication was ''The Origins of European Thought: About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time and Fate'' (Cambridge UP, 1951).

Early life

Onians was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 11 January 1899; his father was Richard Henry Onians. He served in the 4th South Lancs and the RAF in 1917–1918, and then gained a first class degree in classics at Liverpool University. In 1922 he became a research student at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

, where his thesis won the Hare Prize.

Academic career

Onians was a lecturer at the University of Liverpool in 1925–1933, and professor of classics at the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

in 1933–1935. In 1936 he became Hildred Carlile Professor of Latin at the

until his retirement in 1966, and was thereafter an emeritus professor.

''Origins of European Thought''

Onians' doctoral research explored concepts in

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

and was awarded the Hare Prize in 1926, a condition being that the work should be published by 1929. He negotiated an extension to this time limit, and although a 1935 draft with the title ''Origins of Greek & Roman Thought, mainly concerning the body, the mind, the soul and fate'' is held by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, his book, though circulating in manuscript, was not published until 1951, as ''The Origins of European Thought: About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time and Fate'' (Cambridge University Press). It was reprinted, with corrections and a slightly expanded appendix, in 1954. In 1988 Cambridge University Press printed a paperback edition, which was reissued in 2011. (). His obituary in ''

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 ...

'' in 1986 said "Although the book, which covers a vast field, does not always carry conviction, it was one of the most important of its day in the field of classical studies and remains a valuable tool", and commented that he had published little else although he had worked on additions to the book. Jules Brody wrote in 2014: "His prodigious learning and intellectual daring put Onians squarely in a class with Damaso Alonso, Ernst-Robert Curtius, Mario Praz, and

Leo Spitzer Leo Spitzer (; 7 February 1887 – 16 September 1960) was an Austrian Romanist and Hispanist, philologist, and an influential and prolific literary critic. He was known for his emphasis on stylistics. Along with Erich Auerbach, Spitzer is wide ...

. And yet his book has been virtually ignored by classicists, philosophers, and philologists, at least in the world of Anglo-Saxon scholarship."

Personal life

Onians married Rosalind Lathbury, who had been one of his students, on 27 December 1937. They had two sons: Dick Onians, sculptorDick Onians
website and John Onians, polymath, and four daughters. He was a council member of the Association of University Teachers in 1946-53 and a member of its executive committee in 1946–1951. He died on 21 May 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onians, Richard Broxton 1899 births 1986 deaths British classical scholars Classical scholars of the University of London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Classical scholars of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the University of Wales