Robin Grimsey Osborne, (born 11 March 1957) is an English

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations ...

, who is particularly interested in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

Early life

He grew up in

Little Bromley Little Bromley is a village and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England. The name "Bromley" is Old English for "broomy wood/clearing". The village lies east northeast of Colchester and south of Manningtree. It is surrounded b ...

, attending Little Bromley County Primary School and then

Colchester Royal Grammar School Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a state-funded grammar school in Colchester, Essex. It was founded in 1128 and was later granted two royal charters - by Henry VIII in 1539 and by Elizabeth I in 1584.Trevor J. Hearn, ''Vitae Corona Fide ...

. He was an undergraduate at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, where he also took a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

degree.

Academic career

From 1982 to 1986 Osborne was a Junior Unofficial Fellow at

King's College King's College or The King's College refers to two higher education institutions in the United Kingdom: *King's College, Cambridge, a constituent of the University of Cambridge *King's College London, a constituent of the University of London It ca ...

University of Cambridge , 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 ...

. In 1986 he moved to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, initially as a three-year fixed term

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 ...

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

before in 1989 being appointed a University Lecturer in Ancient History and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. In 2001 Osborne returned to Cambridge to take up the position of Professor of Ancient History and was appointed a Fellow of King's College. He 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 ...

(FBA) in 2006. In the same year he was elected chair of the

Council of University Classical Departments The Council of University Classical Departments (CUCD), founded in 1969, is the association of university departments in the United Kingdom in which Classics (the study of Greek and Roman antiquity) and related subjects are taught and researched. A ...

for a three-year term; in 2009 he was re-elected for a second and final term of office. He was President of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 2002–2006. Osborne serves as the executive editor for '' World Archaeology'', an

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

published by

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, ...

, and is a member of the

editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, ...

s of several other renowned journals including the '' Journal of Hellenic Studies'', the '' Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology'' and the ''

American Journal of Archaeology The ''American Journal of Archaeology'' (AJA), the peer-reviewed journal of the Archaeological Institute of America, has been published since 1897 (continuing the ''American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts'' founded by ...

''. Since 2016, Osborne has been the Vice-Chair of Council of the

British School at Athens The British School at Athens (BSA) ( el, Βρετανική Σχολή Αθηνών) is an archaeological research institute, one of the eight British International Research Institutes supported by the British Academy. Under UK law it is a registe ...

. Osborne is the Chair of the Faculty Board of the Cambridge University

Faculty of Classics A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

. Osborne is the author of textbooks on archaic Greek history (''Greece in the Making 1200–479 BC'') and on Greek art (''Archaic and Classical Greek Art''); he has also written numerous seminal articles on Athenian law, ancient Greek social and economic history, and Classical art and archaeology. In 2019, he was joint winner of the

Runciman Award The Runciman Award is an annual literary award offered by the Anglo-Hellenic League for a work published in English dealing wholly or in part with Greece or Hellenism. The award is named in honour of the late Sir Steven Runciman and is currently ...

for his book

Bibliography of works

*Osborne, Robin (1985). ''Demos: the discovery of classical Attika.'' (1985). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Osborne, Robin (1987). ''Classical landscape with figures. The ancient Greek city and its countryside.'' London: George Philip. * * * * * * * *

References

British Academy Fellowship entryProfile at Cambridge Classics FacultyInterview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Robin 1957 births Living people English historians Scholars of ancient Greek history Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford Academics of the University of Oxford Professors of Ancient History (Cambridge) Presidents of the Classical Association