Martin Percival Charlesworth (18 January 1895 – 26 October 1950) was a classical scholar. He was born in Eastham, then in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, the son of Rev Ambrose Charlesworth, the curate of the parish, and Alice Whish. He was educated at

Birkenhead School Birkenhead School is an independent, academically-selective, co-educational day school located in Oxton, Wirral, in North West England. The school offers educational opportunities for girls and boys from three months to eighteen years of age. ...

and

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 ...

, where he was a Rustat Scholar. He served as an officer in the

Egyptian Labour Corps The Egyptian Labour Corps (also known as the ELC or Labour Corps) was a group of Egyptian labourers who worked for the British Army in Egypt during the First World War's Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Historical context Egypt had historically be ...

in the Middle East 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 ...

. He was placed in the first division of the first class in part one of the

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previously studied L ...

1920 and in first class in part two in 1921 with distinction in Ancient History. He became a visiting fellow of

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

(1921–1922) before becoming a fellow of Jesus College in 1921 and then at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

(1923–1931). He was appointed to the Laurence Readership in Classics in 1931. In 1927 he was appointed editor of the multi-volume ''

The Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bury ...

'' until its publication in 1932. He was elected President of St John's in 1937.

Owen Chadwick William Owen Chadwick (20 May 1916 – 17 July 2015) was a British Anglican priest, academic, rugby international,Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

. He received honorary degrees from the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

and the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...

. During the

Second World War 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 an active recruiter of talent for code-breakers to be sent 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 ...

and for classicists to be sent to the Bedford Japanese School for training as Japanese cryptographers. He died in Leeds in 1950 after a heart attack following an expedition to

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...

Publications

* ''Trade Routes and Commerce in the Roman Empire'' (Cambridge, Eng.: University Press,1924) (also translated into French & Italian) * ''Five Men : Character Studies from the Roman Empire'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1936) * ''The Virtues of a Roman Emperor : Propaganda and the Creation of Belief'', (London: Milford, 1937) * ''Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Claudius and Nero'' (Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1939) * ''The Lost Province, or The Worth of Britain'' (Cardiff, Wales: University of Wales Press, 1949)

Publications

References

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