Donald Andrew Frank Moore Russell, (13 October 1920 – 9 February 2020) was a British

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and academic. He was Professor of Classical Literature at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

between 1985 and 1988, and a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

and tutor of classics at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, from 1948 to 1988: he was an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

and emeritus fellow. Russell died in February 2020 at the age of 99.

Early life and education

Russell was born on 13 October 1920 in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

, London, England. His parents were Samuel Charles Russell (1878–1979) and Laura Moore (1876–1966), both school teachers, who had married in 1912. His father saw service during the First World War in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. Russell was educated at

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London and ...

, a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

. In December 1938, he was awarded a scholarship to study classics at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. His college tutors were W. S. Watt and Roger Mynors. He took

Honour 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 June 1940, and then studied ancient history and philosophy as part of '' Greats'' from 1940 to 1941. His studies were interrupted when he was called-up for military service.

Wartime service

Russell served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

: first in the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

from 1941 to 1943, then in the Intelligence Corps from 1943 to 1945. In the Signals, he trained as a

wireless operator A radio operator (also, formerly, wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system. The profession of radio operator has become largely obsolete with the automation of ra ...

. In 1943, he transferred to the Intelligence Corps and was sent on a crash course in Japanese at the secret Bedford Japanese School run by Captain

Oswald Tuck Instructor Captain Oswald Thomas Tuck (1 September 1876 – 26 February 1950) was a naval officer and teacher of Japanese. He served as a naval instructor in navigation and Japanese and later translated a confidential history of the Russo-Japanes ...

RN. He was on the 3rd Bedford course (January to April 1943) and achieved the best results in the final examination.Peter Kornicki, ''Captain Oswald Tuck and the Bedford Japanese School, 1942-1945'' (London: Pollino Publishing, 2019). He was subsequently posted to the Japanese Military Attaché Section at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

and became Senior Translator there. Having achieved the rank of

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

in the other ranks, he was granted an immediate emergency commission in the Intelligence Corps on 3 May 1944 in the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

Academic career

From 1948 to 1988, he was a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

, of which he was subsequently an emeritus fellow. As of October 2013, Russell was just the third fellow in the history of St John's to have reached the 65 year anniversary milestone of his election to the fellowship. From 1952 to 1978, he was a university lecturer in classical literature at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He was

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in Classical Literature from 1978 to 1985, and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Classical Literature from 1985 to 1988. In 1981, he delivered the J H Gray Lectures at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

in 1985 and from 1989 to 1991, a visiting professor at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Published works

* Russell, Donald (1964). ''Longinus On the Sublime'',

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

* Russell, Donald (1972). ''Plutarch'', London: Duckworth * Russell, Donald; and M Winterbottom (1972). ''Ancient Literary Criticism'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

* Russell, Donald (1981). ''Criticism in Antiquity'', London: Duckworth * Russell, Donald; and N G Wilson (1981). ''Menander Rhetor'', London: Duckworth * Russell, Donald (1983). ''Greek Declamation'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

* Russell, Donald (1990). ''Anthology of Latin Prose'', Oxford: Clarendon Press * Russell, Donald (1991). ''Anthology of Greek Prose'', Oxford: Clarendon Press * Russell, Donald (1992). ''Dio Chrysostom, Orations 7, 12, 36'', Cambridge University Press * Russell, Donald (1993). ''

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

: Selected Essays and Dialogues'', Oxford University Press * Russell, Donald (1996). ''Libanius: Imaginary Speeches'', London: Duckworth * Russell, Donald (2001). ''Quintilian: The orator’s education (Loeb Translation)'',

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

* Russell, Donald; and D Konstan (2005). ''

Heraclitus Heraclitus of Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἡράκλειτος , "Glory of Hera"; ) was an ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Persian Empire. Little is known of Heraclitus's life. He wrote ...

: Homeric problems'', Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature * Russell, Donald; and R Hunter (2011). ''Plutarch: How to Study Poetry'', Cambridge University Press * Russell, Donald; Dillon, J and Gertz, S. (forthcoming) 'Aeneas of Gaza: Theophrastus with Zacharias of Mytilene: Ammonius (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle)', Bristol Classical Press. 978-1780932095

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Donald 1920 births 2020 deaths British classical scholars Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Classical scholars of the University of Oxford Scholars of Latin literature Scholars of ancient Greek literature Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Fellows of the British Academy Intelligence Corps officers People from Wandsworth People educated at King's College School, London British Army personnel of World War II