Roy Albert Wisbey (13 June 1929 – 21 October 2020) was a British medievalist, Professor of German 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 ...

, and one of the leading figures in British

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

. He was also a pioneer in the field of

digital humanities Digital humanities (DH) is an area of scholarly activity at the intersection of computing or Information technology, digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities. It includes the systematic use of digital resources in the humanitie ...

, founding the Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1964 and later promoting the establishment of the

Centre for Computing in the Humanities The Department of Digital Humanities (DDH) is an academic department and research centre in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities at King's College London. DDH counts amongst the "most visible" digital humanities centres worldwide. Its research activ ...

at King's. Over a period of 40 years he led the transformation of the

Modern Humanities Research Association The Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) is a United Kingdom–based international organisation that aims to encourage and promote advanced study and research of humanities. It is most notable for producing the '' MHRA Style Guide''. Hi ...

(MHRA) into a major scholarly publisher. He was recognised by both the German and Austrian governments for his contribution to German Studies.

Education

Roy Wisbey was born on 13 June 1929 in

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, to working-class parents Albert and Mary Wisbey. He was educated at

Bishop's Stortford College Bishop's Stortford College is a private boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for more than 1,200 pupils aged 4–18, situated in a campus on the edge of the market town of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England ...

and did his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

as a Chief Instructor in the

Royal Army Educational Corps The Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC) was a corps of the British Army tasked with educating and instructing personnel in a diverse range of skills. On 6 April 1992 it became the Educational and Training Services Branch (ETS) of the Adjutant Ge ...

. He won an Open Scholarship to

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, matriculating in October 1949. He achieved a first class degree in the Modern and Medieval Languages

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

and graduated in 1952. He studied in Germany 1952–1955, earning a doctorate under Julius Schwietering at the

Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

Frankfurt-am-Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. His 1956 thesis ''Das Alexanderbild Rudolfs von Ems'' was published in 1966.

Academic career

Roy Wisbey's first academic post was as a Research fellow at

Bedford College, London Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a leading role in the advancement of women in highe ...

, where he spent the year 1955–1956, after which he was appointed to a lectureship in German at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

, where he taught

German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...

from the sixteenth century to the modern day. In 1958 he moved to Cambridge to take up a lectureship in

Medieval German Literature Medieval German literature refers to the literature of Medieval Germany. It can be subdivided into two main periods: *Old High German literature (750–1050) is the product of the monasteries and is almost exclusively religious in nature *Middle H ...

at the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, and he also became a Fellow of

Downing College Downing College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, ...

. It was at this point that he became interested in the possibilities offered by computer concordances of medieval texts, which led to him establishing the university's Literary and Linguistic Computing Centre in 1964. From 1971 to his retirement in 1994 he was Professor of German and Head of German 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 ...

Selected publications

Middle High German literature

* * * * * * (The Presidential Address of the Modern Humanities Research Association)

Humanities computing

* * * * * * * * * *

Festschrift

Notes

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Roy Wisbey, and Literary and Linguistic Computing, 1965 style
– Article from ''Cambridge Evening News''. 24 September 1965 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wisbey, Roy A. 1929 births 2020 deaths People from Bishop's Stortford People educated at Bishop's Stortford College Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Goethe University Frankfurt alumni Academics of King's College London Fellows of King's College London British medievalists British Germanists People in digital humanities Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Academics of Durham University