Robert Bertram Serjeant, FBA (23 March 1915 – 29 April 1993) was a British scholar, traveller, and one of the leading

Arabists An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside the Arab world, who specialises in the study of the Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an inter ...

of his generation.

Background and career

He was born and raised in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

under the Quranic scholar Richard Bell. He received his MA in 1935, and moved on to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, completing his PhD dissertation on Islamic textiles under the supervision of Professor C.A. Storey. He won a scholarship to work at SOAS with Professor A. S. Tritton. In 1940, he was working in Aden, but with the Second World War in progress, he was commissioned into the Aden Government Guards, spending his time in the Subayhi country of

southern Arabia South Arabia () is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jizan, Al-Bahah, and 'A ...

. He returned to the UK in 1941, where he edited the "Arabic Listener" at the BBC. When the war ended, he restarted his academic career at SOAS, and in 1947 went to research the language and society of the

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Saud ...

region in Arabia. He published a study called ''Prose and Poetry from Hadhramawt'' in 1951. In 1955, he became the chair of Modern Arabic at SOAS. In 1964, his friend Professor AJ Arberry prompted him to return to Cambridge where he was appointed Lecturer in Islamic History. He was also director of the Middle East Centre at Pembroke College, Cambridge, remaining in this post until his retirement in 1981. Following Arberry's death in 1969, he was appointed

Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic is a title used at Cambridge University for the holder of a professorship of Arabic; Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet (1586–1668), Lord Mayor of London in 1645, gave to Cambridge University the money needed t ...

. After his retirement, he returned to his native Scotland where he continued his academic research. Two of his notable works are ''The Portuguese off the South Arabian Coast'', published by the

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 1963, and ''Sanaa: an Arabian Islamic city'' (1983) which he wrote and co-edited with Professor Ronald Lewcock. The latter is regarded as the definitive work on the

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

i capital. Bob Serjeant married Marion Robertson, a doctor, in 1941. They were married until his death in April 1993, when he died in the garden of his cottage in Denhead, St Andrews. In 1995, his widow donated his library of nearly 5,000 volumes on Islam and the Yemen as well as his unpublished manuscripts to the University of Edinburgh.

Personal life

He married Marion Robertson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serjeant, Robert Bertram Scottish Arabists Sanaa Scottish orientalists Scottish travel writers Academics from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 1915 births 1993 deaths Academics of SOAS University of London Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge Sir Thomas Adams's Professors of Arabic Fellows of the British Academy