John Earle Raven (13 December 1914 – 5 March 1980) was an Englishclassical scholar, notable for his work onpre-Socratic philosophy, and amateurbotanist. His wife, Faith,inherited the 35,000 acre Ardtornish Estate in Argyllshire, Scotland; their family continues to run it today as a commercial enterprise.^[1]

John Raven was born on 13 December 1914 inCambridge,^[2] the son ofCharles Earle Raven, sometimeRegius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge and Master ofChrist's College, Cambridge and of Margaret Wollaston. His mother's family endowed Raven with a distinguished intellectual pedigree, including between 1723 and 1829 sevenFellows of the Royal Society (among themCharlton Wollaston,Francis Wollaston (1694-1774),Francis Wollaston (1762-1823),George Wollaston andWilliam Hyde Wollaston); Raven was also a 7th generation descendant ofWilliam Wollaston, the philosophical writer. On his father's side, he was related toSamuel Hole,Dean of Rochester.^[3]

Raven was educated atSt Ronan's School, then situated atWorthing, before proceeding in September 1928 with ascholarship toMarlborough College, where he distinguished himself academically, winning prizes inEnglishverse,Greekiambics, Greek andLatinprose and Latin verse, culminating in a scholarship toTrinity College, Cambridge. He did not confine himself to the intellectual, playing in the First XV atrugby and setting new school records in 1934 for thehigh jump and 440 yards.^[4]

Following the award of afirst class degree inclassics at Trinity^[5] Raven became in 1946 aresearch fellow there. In October 1948 he was elected afellow ofKing's College, Cambridge.^[6]

During theSecond World War he was aconscientious objector,^[7] basing his case on arguments byPlato (and no doubt influenced by his father's pacifist views). He undertook unsalaried social work forGuy Clutton-Brock atOxford House inBethnal Green.^[8] This included running an experiment in education for Bethnal Green children evacuated to North Wales, which impressed ArchbishopWilliam Temple, who recommended the experiment toRab Butler andJames Chuter Ede at theBoard of Education.^[9]

As a classical scholar, Raven's interests were inancient philosophy. In 1957 he published withGeoffrey KirkThe Pre-Socratic philosophers, a standard work forundergraduates still in use today. Raven contributed the chapters relating to the Italian tradition (Pythagoras of Samos,Alcmaeon of Croton, Pre-ParmenideanPythagoreanism,Parmenides of Elea,Zeno of Elea,Melissus of Samos,Philolaus of Croton andEurytus of Croton) and onAnaxagoras andArchelaus.

As Senior Tutor at King's in the 1960s he turned the college to theleft, tellingpublic schools that their boys could no longer expect to "swan in", as previously.^[7]

Raven was the undergraduate tutor ofMyles Burnyeat, who subsequently became the fifthLaurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University.^[10]

While Raven's principal professional occupation was his career as a classical scholar, he applied a similar intellectual rigour to his amateur interest in botany.

From the mid-1930sJohn Heslop-Harrison, Professor of Botany atKings College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, had reported significant new plant discoveries on expeditions to theInner andOuter Hebrides. The sheer scale of the discoveries aroused scepticism, and in 1948 Raven secured a grant from Trinity College to fund a trip toHarris andRùm in July and August of that year to investigate the claims of Heslop-Harrison.^[6]

Raven's conclusions about two of the notable species were published, briefly, inNature. He suggested that bothCarex bicolor andPolycarpon tetraphyllum were introductions to Rùm, but did not comment on the possible means of introduction. His full report of the expedition and fraud was deposited in the library of King's College, Cambridge on 5 May 1960, to attack Prof. Jack Heslop-Harrison's electron microscope research into plant genetics (DNA) and only published in full in 1999 after the deaths of both Heslop-Harrison, his sonJack Heslop-Harrison and Raven himself. In the report Raven alleged that at some time in the 1940s Heslop Harrison transported alien plants to the Isle of Rum and planted them in the soil; he then "discovered" the plants, claimed they were indigenous to the area and that he was the first to find them. Raven's report to the council of Trinity College states: "In the interests not only of truth but also of the reputation of British science it is essential somehow to discover what plants and what insects he (Heslop Harrison) has either completely fabricated or else deliberately introduced into the Hebrides."^[6]

Raven's classical and botanical interests were brought together in four J. H. Gray Lectures given at Cambridge in 1976, published after his death asPlants and Plant Lore in Ancient Greece.^[11]

Raven married Constance Faith Alethea Hugh Smith; they had five children: the writerSarah Raven, Anna Raven, the conservationistAndrew Raven, Hugh Raven, and Jane Raven.^[13] On marriage in 1954 John and Faith Raven purchased Docwra's Manor inShepreth, near Cambridge, where they cultivated a garden which is now open to the public.^[14] Raven's family, through his wife Faith's inheritance, own the 35,000 acre Ardtornish Estate in Scotland.

He died on 5 March 1980 in Shepreth,^[2] near Cambridge, aged 65. Following his death a group of friends contributed to a collection of essays to commemorate his life, published in 1981 asJohn Raven by his Friends.

• 1914 births
• 1980 deaths
• People from Cambridge
• People educated at Marlborough College
• Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
• Fellows of King's College, Cambridge
• English conscientious objectors
• English classical scholars
• British scholars of ancient Greek philosophy
• 20th-century English philosophers
• 20th-century English botanists
• Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics
• New Naturalist writers
• 20th-century English historians
• English male non-fiction writers
• 20th-century English male writers
• People from Shepreth

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