George Cawkwell

{{Short description|New Zealand classical scholar and historian (1919–2019)}}

{{Infobox academic

| name = George Cawkwell

| image = George Cawkwell portrait.jpg

| image_size = 280px

| caption = Portrait of George Cawkwell

| alt = Detail of a portrait of George Cawkwell at University College, Oxford

| birth_name = George Law Cawkwell

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1919|10|25}}

| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2019|2|18|1919|10|25}}

| death_place = Oxford, England

| citizenship = British

| nationality =

| other_names =

| education = King's College, Auckland

| alma_mater = University of Auckland, Christ Church, Oxford

| occupation = Ancient historian

| period = 1949–2019

| workplaces = University College, Oxford

| known_for = History of Greece in the 4th century BC

| notable_works = Philip of Macedon (1978)
Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War (1997)
The Greek Wars: The Failure of Persia (2005)

| spouse = Pat Clarke (m. 1945–2008 her death)

| children = Simon Cawkwell (1946), Sarah Cawkwell, and Timothy Cawkwell

| awards = Runciman Award (1998)

| influenced = Robin Darwall-Smith, Rajiva Wijesinha

| footnotes =

}}

George Law Cawkwell (25 October 1919 – 18 February 2019) was a classical scholar who specialised in the ancient history of Greece in the 4th century BC.{{cite web | url=http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000006609,00.html | title=George Cawkwell | work=penguinclassics.co.uk | publisher=Penguin Books, UK | accessdate=3 April 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731055544/http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000006609,00.html | archive-date=31 July 2012 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}{{cite journal | title=George Cawkwell's contribution to Ancient History and to Oxford | author=Hornblower, Simon | journal=Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies |date=January 1991 | volume=37 | issue=558 | pages=1–12 | doi=10.1111/j.2041-5370.1991.tb02201.x}}

Life and career

Born in Auckland, New Zealand,{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/13205001.george-cawkwell-gentleman-and-scholar-still-going-strong/|title=George Cawkwell: Gentleman and scholar still going strong|last=Reid|first=Alasdair|date=9 March 2015|website=HeraldScotland|language=en|access-date=18 February 2019}} Cawkwell was educated at King's College, Auckland, and became head boy there.{{cite journal | journal=University College Record | title=Fellows: George Cawkwell | year=1987 | pages=7–9}} He attended the University of Auckland from 1938, gaining BA and MA degrees. He joined the army in 1942 during World War II and fought with the Fijian Infantry in the Solomons in 1944.

Cawkwell was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, studying at Christ Church. He played in the position of lock for the {{nrut|Scotland}} national rugby union team, gaining his cap in 1947.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/money/article/george-cawkwell-my-financial-worries-are-all-ancient-history-qjzfcjw0m|title=George Cawkwell: My financial worries are all ancient history|last=Mikhailova|first=Anna|date=10 December 2017|work=The Sunday Times|access-date=18 February 2019|language=en|url-access=subscription}}{{cite news| url=https://www.scottishrugby.org/news/scotlands-oldest-internationalist-george-cawkwell-passes-away | title=Scotland's Oldest Internationalist George Cawkwell Passes Away | publisher=Scottish Rugby | date=21 February 2019 | accessdate=7 August 2019 }} For most of his life, Cawkwell was a Fellow and Praelector in Ancient History of University College, Oxford.{{cite web| url=https://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/news/obituary-george-cawkwell/ | title=Obituary – George Cawkwell | first=Christopher | last=Pelling | publisher=University College, Oxford | accessdate=7 August 2019 }}{{cite book | last=Darwall-Smith | first=Robin | title=A History of University College, Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-19-928429-0 | pages=479, 494, 499, 508, 510, 522, 523, 524 }}{{cite book| editor-first=Rajiva | editor-last=Wijesinha | editor-link=Rajiva Wijesinha | title=George Cawkwell of Univ | publisher=S. Godage & Brothers | location=Colombo, Sri Lanka | date=2019 | isbn=978-624-00-0293-6 }} He was a Fellow from 1949 to 1987 and then became an Emeritus Fellow. He authored a number of books on ancient history.{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?search-alias=books-uk&field-author=George%20Cawkwell | title=Books " "George Cawkwell" | accessdate=3 April 2012}} His students included the classical scholars Ernst Badian and Raphael Sealey. He won the Runciman Award in 1998 for his book Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War.{{Cite web|url=http://runcimanaward.org/previous-winners/|title=Previous winners – Runciman Award|website=runcimanaward.org|access-date=18 February 2019|archive-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922024343/http://runcimanaward.org/previous-winners/|url-status=dead}}

Cawkwell was the first "Procurator" of University College, fund-raising for the 750th anniversary of the college in 1999. The George Cawkwell Fellowship in Ancient History has been established at the college. A boat in the University College Boat Club is also named after him. His portrait was painted by the artist Daphne Todd.{{cite web | title=Bill Sykes, Peter Strawson, George Cawkwell and Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann | first=Daphne | last=Todd | authorlink=Daphne Todd | url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/bill-sykes-peter-strawson-george-cawkwell-and-hartmut-pogge-von-strandmann-223892 | publisher=Art UK | location=UK | accessdate=23 January 2015 | df=dmy-all }}

George Cawkwell married Pat Clarke in 1945. The businessman and stock market commentator Simon Cawkwell (born 1946) is his son.

Cawkwell died on 18 February 2019 at 99 years of age.{{cite web|url=https://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/news/rip-george-cawkwell/|title=RIP George Cawkwell|publisher=University College, Oxford|accessdate=18 February 2019 }}{{cite news| url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/professor-george-cawkwell-obituary-0rw0kjs2d | title=Professor George Cawkwell obituary | newspaper=The Times | date=20 February 2019 |url-access=subscription }}{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/04/08/george-cawkwell-brilliant-scholar-ancient-greek-history-self/ | title=George Cawkwell, brilliant scholar of ancient Greek history, self-described 'college fossil' and one-time rugby international – obituary | newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | date=8 April 2019 }}{{cite news| url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-george-cawkwell-new-zealander-academic-and-author-who-was-proud-of-his-sole-scottish-rugby-cap-1-4883459 | title=Obituary: George Cawkwell, New Zealander academic and author who was proud of his sole Scottish rugby cap | newspaper=The Scotsman | date=6 March 2019 }}{{cite news| url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/17449685.obituary-george-cawkwell-academic-and-scotlands-oldest-rugby-internationalist/ | title=Obituary: George Cawkwell, academic and Scotland's oldest rugby internationalist | newspaper=The Herald | date=21 February 2019 }}

Selected books

File:Philip II of Macedon's 339 BC Campaign.png

Cawkwell's books include:

Philip of Macedon. Faber and Faber, 1978. {{ISBN|0571109586}}.
Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War. Routledge, 1997. {{ISBN|0415165520}}.
The Greek Wars: The Failure of Persia. Oxford University Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-19-814871-2}}.{{cite web | url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-10-31.html | title=Review: George Cawkwell, The Greek Wars. The Failure of Persia. | work=bmcr.brynmawr.edu/ Bryn Mawr Classical Review | publisher=Bryn Mawr College | date=31 October 2005 | accessdate=3 April 2012 | author=Hagedorn, Anselm C. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811090856/http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-10-31.html | archive-date=11 August 2011 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}