Thomas Bertram Lonsdale Webster (3 July 1905 – 31 May 1974) was a British
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
and
Classicist, known for his studies of
Greek comedy.
Background
He was the son of
Sir Thomas Lonsdale Webster. During
World War I he attended
Charterhouse. As a student at
Oxford University, he first studied
Greek vases
Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...
that
John Beazley had brought in, but soon switched to
Menander
Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...
and developed a lifelong interest in
Greek comedy that resulted in "reconstructions of the plots of lost plays and ... collections of evidence from widely disparate sources bearing on the history of the Greek theater".
Career
He followed William Moir Calder (1880–1960) as Hulme Professor of Greek at
Manchester University, a position he held 1931–48, when he was followed by
H. D. (Henry) Westlake (1906–92). He then was
Professor of Greek at
University College London 1948–68 and in 1953 established the
Institute of Classical Studies. During
World War II he served as an officer in the
military intelligence. After his wife, the Classicist
A. M. Dale
Amy Marjorie Dale, (15 January 1901 – 4 February 1967), published as A. M. Dale, was a British classicist and academic.
Life
Dale was born in 1901. She studied Classics as an undergraduate at Somerville College, Oxford. She subsequently studi ...
, died in 1967, he moved to
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
as professor of classics and as an emeritus.
Awards and honours
*President of the
Joint Association of Classical Teachers
The Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT) was a UK organisation for the encouragement of the teaching of Classics in schools and universities. It was merged into the Classical Association with effect from 2 January 2015. The JACT Summer ...
*President of the
Hellenic Society and the
Classical Association
*Honorary Doctor of Letters at
University of Manchester 1966 (also at
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
)
*Fellowships of the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
and the
Society of Antiquaries of London
*In honour of his work, a street in the
Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
district of
Athens has been renamed to Webster Street (transliterated Gouemster on some signs and maps).
Publications
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External links
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Thomas Bertram Lonsdale
English archaeologists
Scholars of ancient Greek history
People educated at Charterhouse School
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Academics of the University of Manchester
Academics of University College London
Stanford University Department of Classics faculty
1905 births
1974 deaths
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society