Sir Roderick Macleod Beaton, FBA, FKC (born 29 September 1951)"Beaton, Prof. Roderick Macleod"
''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2018). Retrieved 28 August 2019. is a retired academic. He was Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

from 1988 to 2018.

Education

Born in 1951, Beaton was educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

, Edinburgh, and

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

, graduating with an

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

degree in 1973. He remained there to complete his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, which was awarded in 1977 for his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

"Myth and tradition in modern Greek folk poetry, a study of non-literate tradition, its technique and aims, in the context of lyric and ballad, rather than epic poetry."

Career

Beaton spent three years as the Ouranis Foundation Fellow in Modern Greek at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

(1977''–''80) before joining

in 1981 as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

. He was appointed Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at King's College in 1988,"Professor Roderick Beaton"
''King's College London''. Retrieved 28 August 2019. and was also head of the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies from 1988 to 1994 and again from 1995 to 1998, and director of the Centre for Hellenic Studies from 2012 to 2016. He also held a Major Leverhulme Fellowship from 2009 to 2012. He retired from his chair at King's College in 2018.

Honours

In 2013, Beaton was elected a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

, the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences. He was also elected a

Fellow of King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

in 2018. On 9 September 2019 he was appointed Commander of the Order of Honour by

Greek President The president of Greece, officially the president of the Hellenic Republic (), commonly referred to in Greek as the president of the Republic (, ΠτΔ), is the head of state of Greece. The president is elected by the Hellenic Parliament; the ...

Prokopis Pavlopoulos Prokopios "Prokopis" Pavlopoulos (, ; born 10 July 1950) is a Greek retired politician, who served as the president of Greece from 2015 to 2020. A member of New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy, he previously was Ministry of the Interior (Greece ...

for his lifelong contribution to the promotion of medieval and modern Greek studies and culture. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2024 King's Birthday Honours The 2024 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part o ...

"for services to history and to UK/Greece relations".

Bibliography

* ''The Greek Revolution of 1821 and its Global Significance'' (Aiora Press, 2021) * ''The Greeks: A Global History'' (Basic Books, 2021) * ''Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation'' (Penguin Books Ltd, 2019) * ''Byron's War: Romantic Rebellion, Greek Revolution'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2013) * ''The Making of Modern Greece: Nationalism, Romanticism, and the Uses of the Past (1797–1896)'' (Co-edited with D. Ricks), (Publications of the Centre for Hellenic Studies, King's College London, Ashgate, 2009) * ''George Seferis: Waiting for the Angel: A Biography'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, 2003) * ''An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature'' (

, 1999) * ''The Medieval Greek Romance'' (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature, no. 6,

, 1989) * ''Folk Poetry of Modern Greece'' (

, 1980)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, Roderick Living people 1951 births Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of King's College London Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of King's College London Knights Bachelor Runciman Award winners People educated at George Watson's College