Ernst Peter Michael Dronke FBA (30 May 1934 – 19 April 2020) was a scholar specialising in

Medieval Latin literature Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

. He was one of the 20th century's leading scholars of medieval Latin lyric, and his book ''The Medieval Lyric'' (1968) is considered the standard introduction to the subject.

Life and career

Dronke was born in 1934 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, the son of

Maria Dronke Minnie Maria Dronke (née Kronfeld, 17 July 1904 – 28 August 1987) was a New Zealand actor, drama producer and teacher. She was born Minnie Kronfeld in 1904 in Berlin, Germany, the daughter of Laura (Liebmann) and Salomon Kronfeld, a bar ...

(born Minnie Kronfeld), a prominent actress, and Adolf John Rudolf Dronke, a judge. His mother was born Jewish, and later converted to Catholicism. In 1939, he left the country because of the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, settling in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and becoming a naturalised New Zealand citizen. Dronke earned his

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

. In 1955 he received a travelling scholarship to study at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

.John Marenbon, ed., ''Poetry and Philosophy in the Middle Ages: A Festschrift for Peter Dronke'', Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2001,
pdf
p. 1. After graduating with a first in English, in 1958 Dronke was elected to a three-year Junior Research Fellowship at

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

. He took up a

lectureship Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct res ...

in Medieval Latin at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1961 and became a fellow of Clare Hall in 1964. He was awarded a personal readership in 1979 and a personal

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...

in Medieval Latin literature in 1989. He became a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # ...

in 1984. He became a foreign member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 1997. In 2001, he retired. Dronke married fellow

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

Ursula Brown in 1961. He died on 19 April 2020.

Selected works

*''Medieval Latin and the Rise of the European Love-Lyric'', 2 vols., (1965-6; 2d ed. 1968) *''The Medieval Lyric'' (1968; 2d ed. 1978; 3d ed. 1996) *''Poetic Individuality in the Middle Ages: New Departures in Poetry 1000–1500'' (1970; 2d ed. 1986) *''Fabula: Explorations into the Uses of Myth in Medieval Platonism'' (1974) *''Women Writers of the Middle Ages: A Critical Study of Texts from Perpetua to

Marguerite Porete Marguerite Porete (; 13th century1 June 1310) was a French-speaking mystic and the author of '' The Mirror of Simple Souls'', a work of Christian mysticism dealing with the workings of agape (divine love). She was burnt at the stake for heresy i ...

'' (1984) *''

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

and Medieval Latin Traditions'' (1986) *''A History of Twelfth-Century Western Philosophy'', editor (1988) *''Latin and Vernacular Poets of the Middle Ages'' (1991) *''Intellectuals and Poets in Medieval Europe'' (1992) *''Nine Medieval Latin Plays'', translator (1994) *''Verse with Prose from

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Calcidius Calcidius (or Chalcidius) was a 4th-century philosopher (and possibly a Christian) who translated the first part (to 53c) of Plato's ''Timaeus'' from Greek into Latin around the year 321 and provided with it an extensive commentary. This was ...

: Platonic Concepts and Images in the Medieval West'' (2008)

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dronke, Peter 1934 births 2020 deaths Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to New Zealand Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge Linguists from the United Kingdom Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Naturalised citizens of New Zealand Fellows of Merton College, Oxford