Ian Stanley Scott-Kilvert OBE (26 May 1917 – 8 October 1989) was a British editor and translator. He worked for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

, editing a series of pamphlet essays on British writers, and was chairman of the

Byron Society George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

.'Deaths', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 12 October 1989. Amongst his translations were several classical texts, including

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 ...

and

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

, for the

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

series.

Life

Born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, Ian Scott-Kilvert was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

, for whom he played cricket, and

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

, where he gained a first in English literature. At the start of

World War II 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 ...

he was a pacifist, serving in the western desert for the Friends' Ambulance Service. In 1941 he married Elisabeth Dewart. He later joined the army: parachuted into

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

as a SOE officer in 1944, he successfully took control of his district for the Allies as the Germans retreated.

William St Clair William Linn St Clair, (7 December 1937 – 30 June 2021) was a British historian, senior research fellow at the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, and author. Biography William St Clair received ...

, 'Gentle, brave Hellenophile', ''

'', 13 October 1989 In 1946 he joined the British Council, and from 1962 to 1967 was director of its publications and recorded sound department. In 1966 he and his wife divorced. He was on the council and committee of the

Anglo-Hellenic League The Anglo-Hellenic League was founded in the aftermath of the 1912–13 Balkan Wars in order to counter anti-Greek propaganda in the United Kingdom. Dedicated to promoting Anglo-Greek understanding and friendship, the League has a long history of c ...

and joint chairman of both the British and the international

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

Society. Scott-Kilvert was general editor of 'Writers and their Work', which began shortly after the war as a "bibliographic series of supplements to ''British Book News''", published for the British Council and the National Book League. The series eventually included hundreds of items, and Scott Kilvert himself contributed treatments of

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

and

John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

. He was appointed OBE in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginn ...

Works

* 'Introduction', ''Zorba the Greek'' by

Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March ( OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years. Kazantzakis's no ...

. Translated by Carl Wildman, 1952.Kazantzaki's ''Times'' obituary suggested Scott-Kilvert had actually translated the work. 'Mr Nikos Kazantzakis', ''The Times'', 30 October 1957. * ''A. E. Housman'', London: Longmans, Green & Co. for the British Council and the National Book League, 1955. Writers and their work, no. 69. * (tr.) ''The age of Alexander: nine Greek lives'' by

. Penguin, 1960. * ''John Webster'', London: Longmans, Green, 1964. Writers and their work, no. 175. * (tr.) ''Makers of Rome: Nine Lives'' by

. Penguin, 1965. * (tr.) ''The Rise of the Roman Empire'' by

. Penguin, 1979. * (tr.) ''The Roman history: the reign of Augustus'' by

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

. Penguin, 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott-Kilvert, Ian 1917 births 1989 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge English editors Greek–English translators Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century translators