Gertrude Mary Hirst (January 22, 1869 – January 12, 1962), better known as G. M. Hirst, was an English-American classicist. Her most influential publication was her 1926 proposal that Livy was born in 64 BC, rather than the traditional date of 59 BC; this claim would later also be advocated by academics including Ronald Syme.

Early life

Hirst was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1869. Her father, Alfred, was a prosperous wool-stapler, and her mother, Mary Wrigley Hirst, was first cousin to

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

, British Liberal MP and Prime Minister from 1908-1916.William M. Calder III, ‘’Gertrude Hirst (1869-1962),” The Classical World Vol. 90, No. 2/3, Six Women Classicists (November 1996 - February 1997), pp. 149-152 She was the sister of journalist, historian, and biographer

Francis Hirst Francis Wrigley Hirst (10 June 1873 – 22 February 1953) was a British journalist, writer and editor of ''The Economist'' magazine. He was a Liberal in party terms and a classical liberal in ideology. Early life Hirst was born at Dalton Lodge ...

, and writer Margaret Hirst. Her brother William was a published authority on Argentina.

Academic life

Hirst read Classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, from 1887 to 1891, where she became friends with classicist Arthur Woolgar Verrall and his wife Margaret, and the scholar of ancient Greek religion Jane Harrison. She worked as a lecturer in Classics at the University of Birmingham before moving to the United States to become a teacher at the Louisville Female Seminary, where she worked from 1891 to 1901. She meanwhile did graduate work at

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

under Edward Delavan Perry and

Mortimer Lamson Earle Mortimer Lamson Earle, Ph. D. (1864–1905) was an American classical scholar. Biography He was born in New York City on October 14, 1864, the only child of Mortimer Lent Earle and Mercy Josephine Allen. He received his early education from Ash ...

, earning a master's degree in 1900 and Ph.D. in 1901. Her dissertation, ''The Cults of Olbia'', was published in the Journal of Hellenic Studies. Upon earning her Ph.D., she became assistant professor in Greek and Latin at Barnard College, a position she held from 1901 through to her retirement in 1943. Hirst lived in the dormitory and dined with the girls, often inviting them to tea. She was known for riding down the centre of Broadway on her bicycle. Perhaps her most famous student was archaeologist

Evelyn Byrd Harrison Evelyn Byrd Harrison (June 5, 1920 – November 3, 2012) was an American classical scholar and archaeologist. She was Edith Kitzmiller Professor of the History of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University and was for more than ...

. Her one published book of collected papers includes writing on the Roman authors Catullus,

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

, Livy, Juvenal, Virgil,

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

, Tacitus, and Statius. In 1957, she also published "From a Yorkshire Town to Morningside Heights," where she recounts her life experiences. Her most influential publication was her 1926 proposal (in '' Classical World'' vol. 19) that Livy was born in 64 BC, rather than the traditional date of 59 BC. This meant that Livy died in Patavium in AD 17 at the age of 81 rather than 76, and that his advanced age, rather than the succession of Tiberius, led him to retire to his native town. She died in Croton, New York, in 1962.

Publications

''Collected Classical Papers of Gertrude Mary Hirst'' ( Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1938)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirst, Gertrude Mary 1869 births 1962 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge English classical scholars American classical scholars Columbia University alumni Barnard College faculty English emigrants to the United States American women academics People from Huddersfield People from Croton-on-Hudson, New York