Professor Martin Durrell (born 6 November 1943) is an English academic who is known for his study of the German language. In 1990, Durrell was appointed to the Henry Simon Chair of German at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, until becoming professor emeritus at his retirement in 2008.

Biography

Durrell graduated from

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

in Modern & Medieval Languages before earning a Diploma in General Linguistics at the University of Manchester. He then completed a doctorate at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

. From 1967 to 1986, Durrell worked as a lecturer at the University of Manchester before spending four years as Professor of German at the

Royal Holloway and Bedford College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, University of London. From 1998 to 2008, Durrell was a member of the International Academic Council of the Institut für Deutsche Sprache (IDS). From 1995 to 2004, he served on the international committee of the Internationale Vereinigung für Germanistik (IVG) (serving as Vice-President during 2004-05). Durrell is particularly known for his work on the text Hammer's German Grammar and Usage which is recognised as the foremost English language reference guide to German grammar. In 2002, Durrell was given the award of Bundesverdienstkreuz (

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

) for his services to British-German understanding and, in 2020, received the prize of the Director of the Institut für Deutsche Sprache for lifetime achievement in international German linguistics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durrell, Martin Academics of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge University of Marburg alumni 1943 births Living people Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany