Michael C. J. Putnam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Michael Courtney Jenkins Putnam (1933-09-20)September 20, 1933 |
| Died | August 19, 2025(2025-08-19) (aged 91) |
| Awards | Arete Award[1] |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Classical studies |
| Sub-discipline | Latin poetry |
| Institutions | Brown University |
Michael Courtney Jenkins Putnam (September 20, 1933 – August 19, 2025) was an Americanclassicist specializing inLatin literature, who also studied literature written in other languages. Putnam was particularly influential in his publications concerningVirgil'sAeneid.
Putnam received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Harvard. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1959 he taught atSmith College for a year. He then moved on to teach atBrown University and served as W. Duncan MacMillan II Professor of Classics and a professor of comparative literature for 48 years before retiring in 2008.[2] At Brown he served several terms as chair of the department of Classics, as a member of the faculty of comparative literature, and on the Committee on Renaissance and Early Modern Studies.[3]
He was awarded the 1963Rome Prize of theAmerican Academy in Rome and was later a Resident of the academy (1970) and its Mellon Professor in Charge of the Classical School (1989–91). He became a trustee of the academy in 1991, was awarded its Centennial Medal in 2009, and in 2010 was made a life trustee and awarded its Trustees' Medal.[4]
Putnam was elected as a director of theAmerican Philological Association in 1972, and later served in several senior positions of the association, including as its president.[5] He was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996 and theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1998.[6] He was awarded the Alexander G. MacKay Prize by the Vergilian Society of America in 2009, and served as a trustee of the society between 2013 and 2016.[3]
Michael Putnam was the son of politician and businessmanRoger Putnam. He served as sole trustee ofLowell Observatory from 1967 to 1987. Asteroid2557 Putnam was named in his and his father’s honor.[7] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 8 April 1982 (M.P.C. 6835).[8] He was also a member, from 1997, of the selections committee of theFogg Museum of Art atHarvard University, was a trustee ofBay Chamber Concerts inRockport, Maine, between 1972 and 1988 and between 2010 and 2016.[3]
Putnam died in Maine on August 19, 2025, at the age of 91.[4]
In addition to a number of articles and reviews, Putnam published the following books:
He translated and edited Maffeo Vegio:Short Epics(2004);Poetic Interplay: Catullus and Horace (2006).[9]
