John Alexander Stewart CIE MC (1882–1948) was a

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 ...

, colonial

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, and professor of

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

. Stewart was born in Strichen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and educated at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

where he graduated with first-class honours in classics in 1903. He passed the Indian civil service examination in 1904 and went to

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

in 1905. He worked for five years in the Settlement (Land Revenue) Department where he met

J S Furnivall John Sydenham Furnivall (often cited as JS Furnivall or J.S. Furnivall) was a British-born colonial public servant and writer in Burma. He is credited with coining the concept of the plural society and had a noted career as an influential histor ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and the

Anglo-Afghan War Anglo-Afghan War may refer to: * British-Afghan Wars ** First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul fr ...

, Stewart served for years with the Burma Sappers and Miners in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

(where he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

) and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. He returned to Myanmar and was Commissioner of the Magwe Division in the 1930s. With

C W. Dunn C, or c, is the third letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C" ...

he compiled the first Burmese-English dictionary, published under the auspices of the University of Rangoon, in five volumes, the first volume published in 1940, but the project remained incomplete at the time of his death. He became Professor of Burmese in the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and helped found the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

which publishes the SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research. Academic Career at the University of London: *Lecturer in Burmese 1933–35; *Part-time Lecturer in Burmese 1935–36; *Senior Lecturer in Burmese 1936–37; *Reader in Burmese, Acting Head (1937–38) then Head of the Department of India, Burma and Ceylon 1937–46; *Professor of Burmese and Head of the Department of South East Asia and the Islands 1946–48.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, John Alex 1882 births 1948 deaths Academics of SOAS University of London Administrators in British Burma Alumni of the University of Aberdeen British Indian Army officers British lexicographers British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian Army personnel of World War I Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Recipients of the Military Cross Scottish orientalists 20th-century lexicographers People from Strichen

See also

References