John Chadwick, (21 May 1920 – 24 November 1998) was an English

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and classical scholar who was most notable for the decipherment, with

Michael Ventris Michael George Francis Ventris, (; 12 July 1922 – 6 September 1956) was an English architect, classicist and philologist who deciphered Linear B, the ancient Mycenaean Greek script. A student of languages, Ventris had pursued deciphermen ...

, of

Linear B Linear B was a syllabic script used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from ...

Early life, education and wartime service

John Chadwick was born at 18 Christ Church Road,

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many centu ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, on 21 May 1920, the younger son of Margaret Pamela (''née'' Bray) and Fred Chadwick, civil servant. He was educated at St Paul's School and

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

. Chadwick volunteered for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1940 after completing the first year of his classics course at Cambridge. At first he served in the Mediterranean as an ordinary seaman aboard the light cruiser HMS Coventry and saw action when his ship was torpedoed by an Italian submarine and dive-bombed. In 1942 he was sent ashore at

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

for an interview by the Chief of Naval Intelligence and was immediately assigned to intelligence duties in Egypt and promoted to Temporary Sub Lieutenant in the

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

. Thereafter he worked on Italian codes."John Chadwick, 1920–1998"
''

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 ...

'', 1998-12-03, page 22."Life of John Chadwick : 1920 – 1998 : Classical Philologist, Lexicographer and Co-decipherer of Linear B"
, Faculty of Classics, Cambridge University Chadwick deduced from some R/T traffic meant to be handled at Bletchley Park that a British submarine had been sunk near

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

. In 1944, he was transferred to

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

("Station X"), learned Japanese, and worked on reading the encoded messages sent by the Japanese naval representatives in Stockholm and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. After the end of the war in 1945, he returned to his studies at Cambridge, graduating with First Class Honours in Classics Part II, with a distinction in his special subject, linguistics. While studying at Corpus Christi College, he attempted, with some of his fellow students, to use cryptographic methods to decipher the "Minoan Linear Script B". They were already aware at the time of the work of

. They stopped working actively on the problem owing to a lack of published data from inscriptions.

Career

In 1950 he published his first scholarly work, an edition of ''The Medical Works of Hippocrates'', co-authored with his cousin, William Neville Mann, a distinguished physician. After finishing his degree, he joined the staff of the ''

Oxford Latin Dictionary The ''Oxford Latin Dictionary'' (or ''OLD'') is the standard English lexicon of Classical Latin, compiled from sources written before AD 200. Begun in 1933, it was published in fascicles between 1968 and 1982; a lightly revised second edition ...

'' before beginning a Classics lectureship at Cambridge in 1952. In July that year he heard a radio broadcast by Michael Ventris about his work on

and offered his help as "a mere

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

". The men began to collaborate on the progressive decipherment of Linear B, writing ''Documents in Mycenean Greek'' in 1956, following a controversial first paper three years earlier. Chadwick's

philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as the ...

ideas were applied to Ventris's initial theory that Linear B was an early form of Greek rather than another Mediterranean language. After Ventris's death, Chadwick became the figurehead of the Linear B work, writing the accessible and popular book ''The Decipherment of Linear B'' in 1958 and revising ''Documents in Mycenaean Greek'' in 1978. He retired in 1984, by which time he had become the fourth (and last)

Perceval Maitland Laurence Sir Perceval Maitland Laurence (20 April 185428 February 1930) was an English classical scholar, judge in South Africa and a benefactor of the University of Cambridge and the University of Cape Town. Early life and education Perceval Maitland ...

Reader in Classics at Cambridge. He continued his scholarship until his death, being an active member of several international societies and writing numerous popular and academic articles. He was also a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

and of

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

Family

Chadwick married Joan Hill in 1947. They had one son, Camden Chadwick.

Publications

* * * *

Decorations and awards

* 1992:

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1997:

International Antonio Feltrinelli Prize The Feltrinelli Prize (from the Italian "Premio Feltrinelli", also known as "International Feltrinelli Prize" or "Antonio Feltrinelli Prize") is an award for achievement in the arts, music, literature, history, philosophy, medicine, and physical and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chadwick, John 1920 births 1998 deaths People from East Sheen Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge English classical scholars Linguists from England English archaeologists English philologists People educated at St Paul's School, London Bletchley Park people Scholars of Mycenaean Greek Hellenic epigraphers Place of death missing Fellows of Downing College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Classical philologists Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics Royal Navy officers of World War II Contributors to the Oxford Classical Dictionary

Early life, education and wartime service

Career

Family

Publications

Decorations and awards

See also

Further reading

Obituaries of Chadwick

References