Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, (15 November 1907 – 24 March 2001) was a British historian, geographer, classicist and an operative for the British
Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...
(SOE) in
occupied Greece during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Hammond was seen as the leading expert on the history of
ancient Macedonia
Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...
.
His trilogy, ''A History of Macedonia'', has been described as the "most celebrated (and partly irreplaceable) work" on the subject. Additionally, he was recognised for his meticulous research on the
geography
Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
,
historical topography and history of
ancient Epirus.
Life and writings
Nicholas Hammond was born on 15 November 1907 in Ayr, Scotland to James Vavasour Hammond, an
Episcopalian
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...
rector, and Dorothy May.
Hammond studied classics at
Fettes College and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...
. In 1929, while he was still a student, Hammond began his personal exploration of all the ancient sites in
Epirus
Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...
. He excelled in his exams and also spent vacations exploring Greece on foot, acquiring knowledge of the topography and terrain. He also spent some time in
southern Albania (
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus (, ; ) is a term used for specific parts of southern Albania which were first claimed by the Kingdom of Greece in the Balkan Wars and later were associated with the Greek minority in Albania and Greece-Albania diplomatic relation ...
) where he learnt the
Albanian language
Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...
.
These abilities led him to be recruited by the
Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...
during World War II in 1940. His activities included many dangerous sabotage missions in Greece (especially on the Greek island of
Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
). As an officer, in 1944 he was in command of the Allied military mission to the
Greek resistance in
Thessaly
Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
and
Macedonia
Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...
.
There he came to know those regions thoroughly. He published a memoir of his war service entitled ''Venture into Greece'' in 1983; he was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...
and the Greek
Order of the Phoenix.
In the postwar period, Hammond returned to academia as senior tutor at
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...
. In 1954, he became headmaster of
Clifton College
Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...
, Bristol and in 1962 was appointed Henry Overton Wills Professor of Greek at
Bristol University
The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...
, a post which he held until his retirement in 1973. He was elected a Fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
in 1968 and an honorary member of the ''Centre des Nouvelles études de l'histoire, de la philosophie et des problèmes sociaux à Clermont-Ferrand'' in 1988.
His scholarship focused on the history of
ancient Macedonia
Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...
and
ancient Epirus,
and he was considered the leading expert on Macedonia.
He was also editor and contributor to various volumes of the ''
Cambridge Ancient History'' and the second edition of the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary''. He was known for his works about
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
and for suggesting the relationship of
Vergina
Vergina (, ) is a small town in Northern Greece, part of the Veria municipality in Imathia, Central Macedonia. Vergina was established in 1922 in the aftermath of the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, population exchanges after t ...
with
Aegae, the ancient Macedonian royal city, before the archaeological discoveries. In later years, Hammond backed Greece during the
Macedonia name dispute.
On 24 March 2001, while attending a concert at
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...
, Hammond collapsed and died at the age of 93.
Personal life
Hammond was the father of two sons and three daughters including
Caroline Bammel, historian of early Christianity.
Works
Books
* ''Sir John Edwin Sandys, 1844-1922'' (1932)
* ''A History of Greece to 322 B.C.'' (1959)
* ''Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas'' (1967)
* ''
Oxford Classical Dictionary
The ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (''OCD'') is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity," an encyclopædic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations. It was first pub ...
'' (1970) (second edition, co-edited with
H. H. Scullard)
* ''A History of Macedonia, Volume I: Historical geography and prehistory'' (1972)
* ''The Classical Age of Greece'' (1975)
* ''Migrations and Invasions in Greece and Adjacent Areas'' (1976)
* ''A History of Macedonia, Volume II: 550-336 B.C.'' (1979)
* ''Alexander the Great: King, Commander, and Statesman'' (1980)
* ed. ''Atlas of the Greek and Roman World in Antiquity'' (1981)
* ''Venture Into Greece: With the Guerrillas, 1943-44'' (1983)
* ''Three Historians of Alexander the Great: The so-called Vulgate authors, Diodorus, Justin, and Curtius'' (1983)
* ''A History of Macedonia, Volume III: 336-167 B.C.'' (1988)
* ''The Macedonian State: Origins, Institutions, and History'' (1989)
* ''The Miracle that was Macedonia'' (1991)
* ''The Allied Military Mission and the Resistance in West Macedonia'' (1993)
* ''Sources for Alexander the Great: An Analysis of Plutarch's 'Life' and Arrian's 'Anabasis Alexandrou (1993)
* ''Philip of Macedon'' (1994)
* ''The Genius of Alexander the Great'' (1997)
* ''Poetics of Aristotle: Rearranged, Abridged and Translated for Better Understanding by the General Reader'' (2001)
Collections
*''Collected Studies, Volume I'' (1993)
*''Collected Studies, Volume II: Studies concerning Epirus and Macedonia before Alexander'' (1993)
*''Collected Studies, Volume III: Alexander and his successors in Macedonia'' (1994)
*''Collected Studies, Volume IV: Further studies on various topics'' (1997)
Notes
References
*
Clogg, Richard.
bituarybr>
''The Guardian'', 5 April 2001
* Snodgrass, Anthony. "Professor N.G.L. Hammond: Obituary", ''The Independent'', 28 March 2001.
Further reading
*
External links
Alexander's Non-European troops and Ptolemy I's use of such troops, Article by Hammond on BASP 33(1996)The scene in Iliad 18.497–508 and the Albanian Blood-feud, Article by Hammond on BASP 22(1985)Necrology in the ''American Journal of Archaeology''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, N.G.L.
1907 births
2001 deaths
People educated at Fettes College
Academics of the University of Bristol
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
British Army personnel of World War II
British classical scholars
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Headmasters of Clifton College
Recipients of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece)
Fellows of the British Academy
Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge
British Special Operations Executive personnel
Greek Resistance members
Greece in World War II
Scholars of ancient Greek history
Classical scholars of the University of Bristol
20th-century British historians