Richard Anthony Cooper

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

St Benet's Hall, Oxford St Benet's Hall (known colloquially as Benet's) was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Catholic church, Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed in 2022. The principal building was located at the ...

, from September 2018 until September 2022, is

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. Cooper is also an

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

and former chairman of the Faculty Board of Modern Languages of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

.www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk
/ref>

Career

Educated at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

, where

Donald Adamson Donald Adamson, (30 March 1939 – 18 January 2024), was a British literary scholar and historian. Books which he wrote include ''Blaise Pascal: Mathematician, Physicist, and Thinker about God'' and '' Balzac and the Tradition of the European ...

introduced him to

foreign languages A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...

, Cooper went up to

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he read

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. Cooper taught French at the

University of Lancaster Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

from 1971 before returning to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1977 as a

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

in French at

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

. He was appointed Reader in 1996 and subsequently

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 ...

in 1998. He is a member of the Académie des Sciences, Belles Lettres et Arts and of the Institut des Sciences de l'Homme, Lyon. Professor Cooper was selected as a torchbearer for the

2012 Summer Olympics Torch Relay The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011. As well as touring the United Kingdom the ...

, reflecting his 40 years of service to

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

at the

, including 15 years as Chairman of the University Sports Committee.

Honours

Appointed Officier dans l'

ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

in 1996 (promoted

Commandeur Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, t ...

in 2012), Cooper also became Commendatore dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in 2003.

Selected publications

* Rabelais et l'Italie (1991) * Litteræ in tempore belli: Études sur les relations littéraires italo-françaises pendant les guerres d'Italie (1997) * Maurice Scève: The Entry of Henri II into Lyon, September 1548, text with an introduction and notes (1997) * Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, trans. Sir Thomas Urquhart (1999) * Contributor: Jean du Bellay, Poemata, with G. Demerson (2007) * Chrétiens et mondains, poèmes épars: vol. 8 of Œuvres complètes de Marguerite de Navarre (2007).

References

External links

www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Richard 1947 births Living people People educated at Manchester Grammar School Alumni of New College, Oxford Academics of Lancaster University Linguists from the United Kingdom Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford Academics of the University of Oxford Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Masters of St Benet's Hall, Oxford