Graham Speake (born 9 June 1946, London) is a British classical philologist and

Byzantinist Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. T ...

Education

After attending St Paul's School in London, Speake studied Classics at

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

, where he won various prizes for, among other things, poetry in ancient Greek. He continued his studies at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where he was awarded a doctorate for an unpublished dissertation on the Byzantine transmission of

ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...

Career

Speake was subsequently an academic publisher for forty years. His publications include the ''Penguin Dictionary of Ancient History'' (1995) and the two-volume ''Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition'' (2000). In 1996, he was elected Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

. Among other positions, he also worked for twelve years as a guest lecturer on Swan Hellenic Cruises. In 1988 he visited

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

for the first time, to which he subsequently made frequent pilgrimages. In 1990, with Derek Hill, he founded the

Friends of Mount Athos The Friends of Mount Athos (FoMA) is a society formed in 1990 by people who shared a common interest for the monasteries of Mount Athos. It is a registered charity in the United Kingdom (Registered Charity No. 1047287). People Timothy Ware, Met ...

society, under the patronage of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

. As of 2022, he is President of the society. In 1999, he was received into the

Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...

Vatopedi Monastery The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi ( el, Βατοπέδι, ) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos, Greece. The monastery was expanded several times during its history, particularly during the Byzantine period and in the 18th an ...

. For his book ''Mount Athos: Renewal in Paradise'' (2002) he received the 2002 Criticos Prize, awarded by the

Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, known as the Hellenic Society, was founded in 1879 to advance the study of Greek language, literature, history, art and archaeology in the Ancient, Byzantine and Modern periods. The first Pr ...

. A second edition of the book was published in 2014.

Personal life

In the 1970s, he married

Jennifer Speake Jennifer Speake, ''née'' Drake-Brockman (born 1944, Toronto) is a Canadian-British freelance writer and editor of reference books. Life Jennifer Anne Speake was born in Toronto in 1944. She was the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Percy Lumsde ...

(''née'' Jennifer Drake-Brockman), a Canadian writer who later became an editor at

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 ...

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speake, Graham Living people 1946 births Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Byzantinists Scholars of Byzantine history People associated with Mount Athos Writers from London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Hellenists Historians of Christianity Scholars in Eastern Orthodoxy English Eastern Orthodox Christians Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy