Professor Albert Richard ('Bertie') Davis (1924-1983) was born in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...

and died in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The Chair of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney for over a quarter-century, he was a major figure in the development of Asian Studies in Australia. Having worked during World War II for the Royal Navy as a translator of Japanese, Davis studied Chinese at the University of Cambridge 1946–1948, graduating with First Class Honours. After teaching at Cambridge for some years, he became Chair of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney in 1955, becoming one of the leading academics in Asian Studies in Australia. According to

Rafe de Crespigny Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny (born 1936), also known by his Chinese name Zhang Leifu (), is an Australian sinologist and historian. He was an adjunct professor in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. ...

, "At the time of his appointment he was the youngest professor in Australia, and the head of the oldest department of Asian studies." The founder of the

Oriental Society of Australia The Australian Society for Asian Humanities is the oldest academic society in Australasia dedicated to the study of Asia and to the promotion of "the knowledge of Asia in Australia by providing a meeting-place where scholars could present their w ...

(1956) and the editor of the ''

Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'' after the return of Ian Nish to the United Kingdom, Davis also authored scholarly studies of

Tao Yuanming Tao Yuanming (; 365–427), also known as Tao Qian (; also T'ao Ch'ien in Wade-Giles), was a Chinese poet and politician who was one of the best-known poets during the Six Dynasties, Six Dynasties period. He was born during the Eastern Jin dyn ...

and

Du Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Tang dynasty poet and politician. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets.Ebrey, 103. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as ...

, edited an anthology of modern Japanese poetry, and translated the autobiography of

Mitsuharu Kaneko was a Japanese poet and painter. He was a recipient of the Yomiuri Prize. Biography Mitsuharu Kaneko was born in Tsushima, Aichi and attended the private Catholic school Gyosei Gakuen in Tokyo. He published his first poetry collection ''Akatsu ...

. Along with

Liu Ts'un-yan Liu Ts'un-yan 柳存仁 (pinyin Liu Cunren) (1917–2009) was a scholar of Chinese letters and thought, an author of fiction, drama, and screenplays, and a major figure in the development of Asian Studies in Australia. Born in Shandong, he began ...

at ANU, Davis substantially "shaped the tenor and direction of research into Chinese literature and studies

n Australia N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

for the next twenty-five years." In 1958, he delivered the 20th

George Ernest Morrison Lecture in Ethnology The George Ernest Morrison Lecture in Ethnology is given annually at the Australian National University in honour of George Ernest Morrison. The Lectures, founded by the Chinese community in Australia "to honour for all time the great Australian ...

. An obituary by

John Manning Ward John Manning Ward (6 July 1919 – 6 May 1990) was a Vice-Chancellor and Challis Professor of History at the University of Sydney. Ward was born in Sydney and was educated at Fort Street Boys High School and the University of Sydney. He ...

called Davis "a fine scholar, sensitive, imaginative and exceptionally learned. He was also in his quiet and friendly way a builder, whose achievements are bequeathed to the world of scholarship, to his colleagues and to the reputation of his Department and adopted University." His students at the University of Sydney included the literary scholars and translators

Mabel Lee Mabel Lee is a translator of the works of Nobel Prize-winning author Gao Xingjian. She has taught Asian studies at the University of Sydney and is one of Australia's leading authorities on Chinese cultural affairs. Lee was a professor of South ...

and Bonnie S. McDougall as well as the scholar and diplomat

Jocelyn Milner Chey Jocelyn is a surname and first name. It is a unisex (male/female) name. Variants include Jocelin, Jocelyne, Jocelynn, Jocelynne, Joscelin, Josceline, Joscelyn, Joscelynn, Joscelynne, Joseline, Joselyn, Joselyne, Joslin, Joslyn, Josselin, Josselyn, ...

and

Margaret South Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

, a key figure in the development of Asian studies in New Zealand. The annual

A.R. Davis Memorial Lecture The A.R. Davis Memorial Lecture is held annually in commemoration of A.R. Davis, the Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney and a key figure in post-war Asian Studies in Australia. It is organised by the Australian Society for ...

is given in his honour and a postgraduate research scholarship in Chinese or Japanese at the University of Sydney named after him.Chey, Jocelyn. "A reflection on the importance of Tang poetry and the life's work of Dr Margaret South (1926-2016)." Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia, The 50 (2018): 22-26.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, A. R. 1924 births 1983 deaths Alumni of the University of Cambridge Royal Navy personnel of World War II British emigrants to Australia