Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, (15 November 1907 – 24 March 2001) was a British historian, geographer, classicist and an operative for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) in occupied Greece during the Second World War. Hammond is seen as the leading expert on the history of

ancient Macedonia Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

. He has been recognized for his meticulous research on the geography, historical topography and history of

and ancient Epirus.

Life and writings

Hammond studied classics at Fettes College and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. In 1929, while he was still a student, Hammond began his personal exploration of all the ancient sites in Epirus. He excelled in his exams and also spent vacations exploring Greece on foot, acquiring knowledge of the topography and terrain. He also spent some time in southern Albania ( Northern Epirus) where he learnt the Albanian language. These abilities led him to be recruited by the Special Operations Executive during World War II in 1940. His activities included many dangerous sabotage missions in Greece (especially on the Greek island of Crete). As an officer, in 1944 he was in command of the Allied military mission to the Greek resistance in Thessaly and

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

. There he came to know those regions thoroughly. He published a memoir of his war service entitled ''Venture into Greece'' in 1983; he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Greek Order of the Phoenix. In the postwar period, Hammond returned to academia as senior tutor at Clare College, Cambridge. In 1954, he became headmaster of Clifton College, Bristol and in 1962 was appointed Henry Overton Wills Professor of Greek at

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, a post which he held until his retirement in 1973. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1968 and an honorary member of the ''Centre des Nouvelles études de l'histoire, de la philosophie et des problèmes sociaux à Clermont-Ferrand'' in 1988. His scholarship focused on the history of

and ancient Epirus, and he was considered the leading expert on Macedonia. He was also editor and contributor to various volumes of the '' Cambridge Ancient History'' and the second edition of the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary''. He was known for his works about Alexander the Great and for suggesting the relationship of Vergina with Aegae, the ancient Macedonian royal city, before the archaeological discoveries. In later years, Hammond backed Greece during the

Macedonia name dispute The use of the country name " Macedonia" was disputed between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) between 1991 and 2019. The dispute was a source of instability in the Western Balkans for 25 years. It was resolved thro ...

Personal life

Hammond was the father of two sons (both educated at Clifton College) and three daughters including Caroline Bammel, a noted historian of the early church.

Selected works

#''A History of Greece to 322 B.C.'' (1959) #''Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas'' (1967) #''Migrations and invasions in Greece and Adjacent Areas'' (1976) #ed. ''Atlas of the Greek and Roman World in Antiquity'' (1981) #''Philip of Macedon'' (1994) #''The Genius of Alexander the Great'' (1997) #''The Classical Age of Greece'' (1999) # ''Poetics of Aristotle: Rearranged, Abridged and Translated for Better Understanding by the General Reader'' (2001) # ''A History of Macedonia'' Volume I: Historical Geography and Prehistory (1972) # ''A History of Macedonia'' Volume II: 550-336 B.C. (1979) # ''A History of Macedonia'' Volume III: 336-167 B.C. (1988) #''Alexander the Great. King, Commander, and Statesman'' #''History of Macedonia'' #'' Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (1970) (second edition) #''The end of Mycenaean Civilization and Dark Age: the literary tradition'' (1962)

Notes

References

* Clogg, Richard. bituarybr>''The Guardian'', 5 April 2001
* Snodgrass, Anthony. "Professor N.G.L. Hammond: Obituary", ''The Independent'', 28 March 2001.

External links