John Douglas Craig (31 May 1887 – 13 May 1968) was a Scottish classicist, who was Firth Professor of Latin at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

from 1930 to 1952.

Life

Craig was the son of Rev Robert Craig, minister in

Ardentinny Ardentinny ( gd, Àird an t-Sionnaich or Àird an Teine) is a small village on the western shore of Loch Long, north of Dunoon on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. Nearby is Cruach a Chaise (Cheese Hill), while on the ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, Scotland. He was the younger brother of Robert Meldrum Craig FRSE, the geologist, and Prof James Manson Craig of

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

.Bones of Empire, by Brian J Orr He was educated at

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras ...

, St Andrews , and then studied classics at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

under Wallace Lindsay and John Burnet, before moving to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...

for further studies. He obtained a first-class degree in classics at St Andrews, and a second-class degree in Literae Humaniores at Oxford. He then assisted Lindsay in St Andrews from 1912 to 1913 before becoming Assistant Professor of Classics at Queen's University, in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

, Canada in 1913. In 1915, he left Canada to be commissioned in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and was severely wounded in action at the Battle of the Somme. He returned to Ontario in 1919 as Acting Professor of Latin, moving to the

as Lecturer in Classics in 1920, and back to St Andrews in 1924 as Lecturer in Humanity. During this time, he undertook a lot of the teaching and administrative work that Lindsay was unable to due because of increasing deafness. Craig returned to Sheffield as Firth Professor of Latin in 1930, building up good relations with the classics department at the nearby

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, before retiring to live in St Andrews in 1952. He became a town councillor in his efforts to preserve St Andrews from change, a task in which he was not always successful and sometimes aroused opposition. His main scholarship was on the Roman author

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

, but his teaching work was also highly regarded.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, John Douglas 1887 births 1968 deaths Scottish classical scholars Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Queen's University at Kingston faculty Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of the University of St Andrews Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I People educated at Madras College