Henry Theodore Wade-Gery, (2 April 1888 – 2 January 1972), known as Theodore Wade-Gery or H. T. Wade-Gery, was a classical scholar, historian and

epigrapher Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

. From 1939 to 1953, he was Wykeham Professor of Ancient History at 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 ...

Life

Born into a long-established Bedfordshire family, Wade-Gery was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

, a contemporary of

Arnold J. Toynbee Arnold Joseph Toynbee (; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's Coll ...

and R.M.Y. Gleadowe, and at

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 ...

, which he left with a

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

Classical Moderations Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ...

in 1911. After a short spell in the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

he was offered a tutorial fellowship in 1914 at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

. Almost immediately however he left for military service in the First World War in the army on the Western Front, during which he was awarded the MC. After the end of the war Wade-Gery returned to Wadham, eventually becoming Sub-Warden. He remained at Wadham until 1939, when on his election as Wykeham Professor of Ancient History he became a Fellow of New College. In 1941 he 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 ...

. He retired from his Chair in 1953 and was offered a five-year Research Fellowship at

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

, two years of which he spent at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

. For the next ten years or so he continued to travel and to write (his last publication was in 1966) until after a few years of declining health he died of a heart attack in 1972.

Works

In 1915 three of Wade-Gery's poems were published in that year's ''

Oxford Poetry ''Oxford Poetry'' is a literary magazine based in Oxford, England. It is currently edited by Luke Allan. The magazine is published by Partus Press. Founded in 1910 by Basil Blackwell, its editors have included Dorothy L. Sayers, Aldous Huxle ...

'' volume, in which work by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

also appeared. After his safe return from the war he published "Terpsichore and Other Poems", a collection of his poetry, in 1922, but future publications were devoted to his academic work and especially to

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

. He is often cited by classical scholars for his suggestion that the Greek alphabet was adapted from Phoenician script in the 8th century BC with the express purpose of recording Homer's monumental epics. His writing was mostly in the form of articles in learned journals. His principal publications were: * ''Pindar: Pythian Odes'', 1928 (Nonesuch Press), jointly with

Maurice Bowra Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra, (; 8 April 1898 – 4 July 1971) was an English classical scholar, literary critic and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as vice-chancellor of the Univer ...

; * ''The Athenian Tribute Lists'' (4 vols), 1939–53 (American School of Classical Studies at Athens), as a joint author with Benjamin D. Meritt and Malcolm F. McGregor; * ''The Poet of the Iliad'', 1952 (CUP), the published form of his J.H. Gray lectures given at

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 1949; * ''Essays in Greek History'', 1958 (Blackwell).

Family

Wade-Gery married archaeologist Vivian Whitfield (1897–1988) in 1928. They had one son,

Robert Wade-Gery Sir Robert Wade-Gery (22 April 1929 – 16 February 2015) was a British diplomat who was High Commissioner to India 1982–87. Biography Wade-Gery was born in Oxford on 22 April 1929. His father, Theodore Wade-Gery was an ancient historian and ...

(later Sir Robert), who was born in 1929. Wade-Gery's earlier polyamorous relationship with the writer

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...

ended with his marriage to Whitfield.

Sources

Obituary and portrait photograph in the Proceedings of the British Academy 1974
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade-Gery, Theodore Alumni of New College, Oxford British classical scholars Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Winchester College 1888 births 1972 deaths Hellenic epigraphers Wykeham Professors of Ancient History Classical scholars of the University of Oxford Historians of antiquity Fellows of Merton College, Oxford