Reginald Hackforth (17 August 1887 – 6 May 1957) was an English

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, known mainly for his work on

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, and from 1939 to 1952 was the second

Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy The Laurence Professorship of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University was established in 1930 as one of the offices endowed by the bequest of Sir Perceval Maitland Laurence; it is the oldest chair of ancient philosophy in the world. One woman, ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

Life

Early life

Hackforth was born in London. After attending

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, Hackforth went up 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. ...

, in 1907, graduating in 1909 with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in both parts of the classical

tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

. He was John Stewart of Rannoch Scholar in 1907, Davies scholar in 1908 and won the Chancellor's Medal in 1909.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' 7 May 1957

Academic career

After a brief period lecturing 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 Univ ...

(1910–12), Hackforth returned to Cambridge as a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Sidney Sussex College Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

in 1912, a position he held for the remainder of his life. For many years he served as editor of the ''Classical Quarterly'', winning the respect and friendship of J. D. Denniston and

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

. Hackforth produced two chapters for the ''Cambridge Ancient History'' on the history of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in part of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, which utilised his interpretation of the literary evidence of

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

Bacchylides Bacchylides (; grc-gre, Βακχυλίδης; – ) was a Greek lyric poet. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets, which included his uncle Simonides. The elegance and polished style of his lyrics have been noted ...

and the Epistles of

. Hackforth was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1946.British Academy Fellowship entry
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Personal

Hackforth was the younger son of J.P. Hackforth. In 1922 he married Lily Mines, daughter of H.R. Mines, H.M. Inspector of Schools,''Who Was Who'', London : A. & C. Black, 3rd ed., 1967, p. 466 who was buried with him in the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge after her own death in 1975. Hackforth's Cambridge address was 4 Selwyn Gardens. He died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, aged 69.

Publications

''The Authorship of the Platonic Epistles''
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1913. * ''The composition of'' ''Plato's'' ''Apology''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933. * ''Plato's examination of pleasure: a translation of the '' Philebus'' with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1945 * ''Plato's '' Phaedrus'': translated with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952. * ''Plato's ''

Phaedo ''Phædo'' or ''Phaedo'' (; el, Φαίδων, ''Phaidōn'' ), also known to ancient readers as ''On The Soul'', is one of the best-known dialogues of Plato's middle period, along with the '' Republic'' and the '' Symposium.'' The philosophica ...

'': translated with an introduction and commentary''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1955.

References

1887 births 1957 deaths English classical scholars British scholars of ancient Greek philosophy Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics Laurence Professors of Ancient Philosophy {{UK-academic-bio-stub