George Cawkwell | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of George Cawkwell | |
| Born | George Law Cawkwell (1919-10-25)25 October 1919 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Died | 18 February 2019(2019-02-18) (aged 99) Oxford, England |
| Citizenship | British |
| Occupation | Ancient historian |
| Years active | 1949–2019 |
| Known for | History ofGreece in the 4th century BC |
| Spouse | Pat Clarke (m. 1945–2008 her death) |
| Children | Simon Cawkwell (1946), Sarah Cawkwell, and Timothy Cawkwell |
| Awards | Runciman Award (1998) |
| Academic background | |
| Education | King's College, Auckland |
| Alma mater | University of Auckland,Christ Church, Oxford |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University College, Oxford |
| Notable works | Philip of Macedon (1978) Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War (1997) The Greek Wars: The Failure of Persia (2005) |
| Influenced | Robin Darwall-Smith,Rajiva Wijesinha[1] |
George Law Cawkwell (25 October 1919 – 18 February 2019) was aclassical scholar who specialised in theancient history ofGreece in the 4th century BC.[2][3]
Born inAuckland, New Zealand,[4] Cawkwell was educated atKing's College, Auckland, and becamehead boy there.[5] He attended theUniversity of Auckland from 1938, gainingBA andMA degrees. He joined the army in 1942 duringWorld War II and fought with the Fijian Infantry in theSolomons in 1944.
Cawkwell was aRhodes Scholar atOxford University, studying atChrist Church. He played in the position oflock for theScotland nationalrugby union team, gaining hiscap in 1947.[4][6][7] For most of his life, Cawkwell was aFellow andPraelector inAncient History ofUniversity College, Oxford.[8][9][1] He was a Fellow from 1949 to 1987 and then became anEmeritus Fellow. He authored a number of books on ancient history.[2][10] His students included the classical scholarsErnst Badian andRaphael Sealey.[5] He won theRunciman Award in 1998 for his bookThucydides and the Peloponnesian War.[11]
Cawkwell was the first "Procurator" of University College, fund-raising for the 750th anniversary of the college in 1999.[9] The George Cawkwell Fellowship in Ancient History has been established at the college. A boat in theUniversity College Boat Club is also named after him. His portrait was painted by the artistDaphne Todd.[12]
George Cawkwell married Pat Clarke in 1945.[5] The businessman and stock market commentatorSimon Cawkwell (born 1946) is his son.
Cawkwell died on 18 February 2019 at 99 years of age.[13][14][15][16][17]
Cawkwell's books include:[10]
