Walter Ewing Crum (22 July 186518 May 1944) was a Scottish

Coptologist Coptology is the scientific study of the Copts, Coptic people. Origin The European interest in Coptology may have started as early as the 15th century AD. The term was used in 1976 when the First International Congress of Coptology was held in ...

, or scholar in Coptic language and literature. In 1939 he completed ''A Coptic Dictionary,'' a dictionary of translations from Coptic to English.

Early life and education

The eldest son of Alexander Crum of Thornliebank,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and Margaret Stewart, Crum was born in Capelrig,

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

. He attended

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and Eton, and graduated in 1888 from

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. He continued his studies of

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...

in Paris with

Gaston Maspero Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (23 June 1846 – 30 June 1916) was a French Egyptologist and director general of excavations and antiquities for the Egyptian government. Widely regarded as the foremost Egyptologist of his generation, he be ...

and in Berlin with

Adolf Erman Johann Peter Adolf Erman (; 31 October 185426 June 1937) was a German Egyptologist and lexicographer. Education Born in Berlin, he was the son of the physicist Georg Adolf Erman and grandson of the physicist Paul Erman and the astronomer Frie ...

, who remained a lifelong friend. His grandfathers were the chemist Walter Crum and the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, ecclesiastical provi ...

bishop Alexander Ewing.

Career

Early career

Crum's first publications in Coptic were in 1892, and his first monograph was published in 1893. From 1893 until 1910 he assisted

Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English people, English Egyptology, Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. ...

in the teaching of ancient Egyptian and Coptic at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Research

Crum spent much of his career cataloguing various Coptic materials, including the manuscript holdings of the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

and the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. From 1910 until 1914, Crum and his partner Margaret Hart-Davis resided in Austria, where he edited texts from the Monastery of Saint Epiphanius and began work on his Coptic dictionary. With the outbreak of the First World War, he returned to England, where Thompson joined him in work on the dictionary. The dictionary was released in six parts between 1929 and 1939. While the dictionary was the crowning achievement of his career, Crum authored numerous other publications. The

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology The ''Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA)'' is a bi-annual Peer review, peer-reviewed international academic journal published by the Egypt Exploration Society. Covering Egyptology, Egyptological research, the JEA publishes scholarly articles, f ...

published bibliographies totalling 142 monographs and articles.

Recognition

He received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and an honorary D.Litt. from

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 ...

. He was 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 ...

and was elected a Foreign Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

shortly before his death. A ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'', ''Coptic Studies in Honor of Walter Ewing Crum'', was published in 1950 as a special issue of the ''Bulletin'' of the Byzantine Institute of America.''Coptic Studies in Honor of Walter Ewing Crum'', ''Bulletin of the Byzantine Institute'' 2 (1950),

Personal life

Crum married Ella Sieveking, daughter of Edward Henry Sieveking, in 1896. During his time at University College, he began a relationship with Margaret ("Madge") Hart-Davis. The exposure of their affair in 1910 led to his departure from the college. Ella Crum refused a divorce on religious grounds. Hart-Davis and Walter Crum remained partners until his death, but were never married. Crum had no children. Crum became a close friend of Henry Francis Herbert Thompson while the latter was a student at University College, and during Thompson's decline Crum served as his next of kin. During the First World War, Crum donated half his income to charities and volunteered with the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

Works

''Catalogue of the Coptic manuscripts in the British Museum''
British Museum (1905) * ''A Coptic Dictionary''. 6 vols. Oxford University/Clarendon Press, 1929–39. Repr. with introduction by James M. Robinson. Ancient Language Resources. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2005. .