Francis Macdonald Cornford (27 February 1874 – 3 January 1943) was an English

classical scholar 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 translator known for work on

ancient philosophy This page lists some links to ancient philosophy, namely philosophical thought extending as far as early post-classical history (). Overview Genuine philosophical thought, depending upon original individual insights, arose in many culture ...

, notably

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (; grc-gre, Παρμενίδης ὁ Ἐλεάτης; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Magna Graecia. Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Elea, from a wealthy and illustrious family. His date ...

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...

, and

ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has bee ...

Frances Cornford Frances Crofts Cornford (née Darwin; 30 March 1886 – 19 August 1960) was an English poet. Life She was the daughter of the botanist Francis Darwin and Newnham College fellow Ellen Wordsworth Crofts (1856-1903), and born into the Darwi ...

, his wife, was a noted poet. Due to the similarity in their names, he was known in the family as "FMC" and his wife as "FCC".

Early life and family

Cornford was born in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

, on 27 February 1874. He attended

St Paul's School, London (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , h ...

. In 1909 Cornford married the poet Frances Darwin, daughter of Sir Francis Darwin and Ellen Wordsworth Darwin, née Crofts, and a granddaughter of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

. They had five children: *Helena (1913–1994), who married Joseph L. Henderson in 1934 *

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

(1915–1936), poet and Communist killed in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

Christopher Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

(1917–1993), artist and writer, the father of Adam Cornford *Hugh Wordsworth (1921–1997), medical doctor *Ruth Clare (1923–1992), mother of Matthew Chapman

Academic career

Cornford was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he was a Fellow from 1899 and held a teaching post from 1902. He became the first

Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy The Laurence Professorship of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University was established in 1930 as one of the offices endowed by the bequest of Sir Perceval Maitland Laurence; it is the oldest chair of ancient philosophy in the world. One woman, ...

in 1931 and was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # ...

in 1937. He used wit and satire to propagate proposals for reforming the teaching of the classics at Cambridge, in '' Microcosmographia Academica'' (1908). Cornford coined the phrase "twin pillars of Platonism", referring to the theory of Forms on the one hand, and, on the other the doctrine of immortality of the soul. He died on 3 January 1943 in his home, Conduit Head in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. He was cremated at Cambridge Crematorium on 6 January 1943.

Works

''Thucydides Mythistoricus''
(1907) put the argument that

's ''

History of the Peloponnesian War The ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' is a historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which was fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). It was written by Thucydides, an ...

'' was informed by Thucydides's

tragic Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...

view. *'' From Religion to Philosophy: A Study in the Origins of Western Speculation'' (1912) sought the deep religious and social concepts that informed the early Greek philosophers. He returned to this in ''Principium Sapientiae: The Origins of Greek Philosophical Thought'' (posthumous, 1952). *'' Microcosmographia Academica'' (1908) was an insider's satire on academic politics. It was the source of catch phrases such as the "doctrine of unripeness of time", the "principle of the wedge" and the "principle of the dangerous precedent". *''Before and After Socrates'' (1932) *''Plato's Cosmology : The Timaeus of Plato.'' Hackett Publishing Company (1935) *According to the preface to '' The Republic of Plato'', translated with an introduction and notes (OUP, 1941), it "aims at conveying... as much as possible of the thought of the ''Republic'' in the most convenient and least misleading form."

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links

''Microcosmographia Academica'' onlineBritish Academy Fellowship entry''The Origin of Attic Comedy''
(1914)
''Greek Religious Thought from Homer to the Age of Alexander''
(1923)
''Greek Natural Philosophy and Modern Science''
a Lecture (1938) * *
Trinity College Chapel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornford, Francis 1874 births 1943 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century scholars 20th-century British translators Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British scholars of ancient Greek philosophy Darwin–Wedgwood family English classical scholars English translators Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics People educated at St Paul's School, London People from Eastbourne Laurence Professors of Ancient Philosophy