John E. Sharwood Smith OBE DFC MA (1919-2007) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professor of

Classics 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 ...

who wrote numerous books on classics and learning classics.

Biography

His father, Edward Sharwood Smith, was a headmaster, most notably of Newbury Grammar School (now St. Bartholomew's School) who influenced his son's love of the classics. John was awarded a scholarship in Classics to Jesus College Cambridge and started his degree in 1938. His studies were interrupted when he was called up in 1939 and following his older brother Bryan Sharwood-Smith he joined the RAF. He was trained to fly in the USA, completing a pilot training course at Lakeland Army Airfield, Florida. He was subsequently sent to fly first Wellington bombers and then Mosquito fighters in the WWII Burma campaign. He finished the war as an acting Squadron Leader and was awarded the DFC. When asked why, he typically replied, 'for surviving'. Resuming his studies, he completed his degree and pursued an academic career in teaching classics. He was one of the key founders of the

Joint Association of Classical Teachers The Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT) was a UK organisation for the encouragement of the teaching of Classics in schools and universities. It was merged into the Classical Association with effect from 2 January 2015. The JACT Summer ...

. and instrumental in the launch of the JACT Greek summer school in 1968. For the following twelve years, he was the editor of JACT's magazine '' Didaskalos'', writing for it several times. Following this, he wrote numerous books on classics and teaching classics, including ''On Teaching Classics'' (1977) and ''Greece and the Persians'' (1989). He believed heavily in teaching classics in a way that would help student live their lives; by asking questions about how the world worked, students can understand "the choices perennially open to human beings and human societies in the conduct of their affairs." He was awarded an OBE for services to Education in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. After his retirement, he resided in

Painswick Painswick is a town and civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. Originally the town grew from the wool trade, but it is now best known for its parish church's yew trees and the local Rococo Garden. The village is mainly ...

with his wife until his death. During this time he wrote three volumes of personal reminiscences including 'The Message in the Bottle' (2000) about his wartime experiences. Speaking about him after his death, John's son, Nick Sharwood Smith, described him as "an excellent speaker" and that he always had "a desire to understand himself better."

References

1919 births 2007 deaths English classical scholars 20th-century English male writers {{England-academic-bio-stub