Angus Fraser Cameron (11 February 1941 – 27 May 1983) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
linguist and
lexicographer.
Life
Cameron was born in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
on 11 February 1941 and educated at
Truro Senior High School (winning the
Governor General's award in 1958) and
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839.
Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not par ...
before winning a
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
to
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...
. He was then a lecturer at Mount Allison University before completing a post-graduate degree at Oxford in 1968 entitled "Old English nouns of colour: a semantic study". This was the starting point for his later lexicographical work. In 1968, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of English and Centre for Medieval Studies by the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, becoming a professor in 1977 and being elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
in 1982.
His daughter is writer
Claire Cameron. He died of cancer in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
on 27 May 1983 at the age of 42.
Cameron was Ph.D. supervisor for
Antonette diPaolo Healey, who would go on to continue his work on the ''
Dictionary of Old English
''The Dictionary of Old English'' (''DOE'') is a dictionary of the Old English language, published by the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, under the direction of Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette diPaolo Healey, a ...
''.
''Dictionary of Old English''
Cameron began his lexicographical work in 1970 with the ''
Dictionary of Old English
''The Dictionary of Old English'' (''DOE'') is a dictionary of the Old English language, published by the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, under the direction of Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette diPaolo Healey, a ...
'', supported by the
Canada Council. Work on this project was still ongoing at the time of his death, leading to the university becoming a centre of the study of Old English. He was one of the first to see the advantages of using computers for lexicographical work. Declining health in later life prevented him taking up the appointment as Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Angus
1941 births
1983 deaths
Mount Allison University alumni
Mount Allison University faculty
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
University of Toronto faculty
Canadian lexicographers
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
Canadian Rhodes Scholars
20th-century lexicographers
Deaths from cancer in Ontario