Neil Hopkinson
{{Short description|English classical scholar (1957–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox academic
|name=Neil Hopkinson
|birth_date={{Birth date|1957|3|13|df=y}}
|birth_place=Elland, West Riding of Yorkshire
|death_date={{Death date and age|2021|1|5|1957|3|13|df=y}}
|education=Peterhouse, Cambridge
|influences=A. S. F. Gow
|discipline=Classics
|sub_discipline=Ancient Greek literature
|workplaces=Trinity College, Cambridge
|notable_students=
}}
Neil Hopkinson ({{Birth date|1957|3|13|df=y}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Death date|2021|1|5|df=y}}) was an English Hellenist. Educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge, he served as a fellow and director of studies in Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1983 until his death in 2021. He has been described as "one of the most influential commentators of his generation".
Hopkinson was an expert on Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period and under the Roman Empire. After a commentary on the Hymn to Demeter by Callimachus (1984) established his scholarly reputation, he went on to publish widely in his field. His publications include a critical edition of the Dionysiaca of Nonnus (1994) and commentaries on Ovid's Metamorphoses (2000) and on selected works of Lucian (2008).
Life and career
Neil Hopkinson was born on 13 March 1957 in Elland, a town south of Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire.{{Cite news|title=Neil Hopkinson|date=18 February 2021|work=The Times}} He was educated at Hipperholme Grammar School and in 1976 began studying Classics at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he was both an undergraduate and a postgraduate student.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/news/dr-neil-hopkinson-m-1976-1957-2021|title=Dr Neil Hopkinson (m. 1976)|access-date=18 February 2021|website=Peterhouse, Cambridge}} From 1982 to 1983, he worked at the same college as a research fellow.
In 1983, Hopkinson was appointed fellow and director of studies in Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge. He held these positions for the rest of his life. Modelling his fellowship on that of the former Trinity classicist A. S. F. Gow, he was noted for the social gatherings he organised for students of the college, such as an annual reading holiday to his home county of West Yorkshire and events known as "desserts", where only dessert was served. On 5 January 2021, Hopkinson died after briefly suffering from myeloma.
Work
Hopkinson was an expert on Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period and under Roman Empire. His first major publication was an edition of the Hymn to Demeter by the Alexandrian poet Callimachus (1984),{{Sfn|Griffiths|1988|pp=232–4}} which was still considered the standard work on this text at the time of his death. His publications also included a critical edition of the Dionysiaca of Nonnus (1994), commentaries on Book 13 of Ovid's Metamorphoses (2000),{{Sfn|Anderson|2001}} and on selected works of Lucian (2008).{{Sfn|Möllendorff|2011}}
His work on classical literature placed him among the leading Hellenists of his generation. The classicist Richard L. Hunter said that Hopkinson's knowledge of the classical languages was "unsurpassed";{{Cite web|url=https://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/news/fellows-students-and-alumni-pay-tribute-to-dr-neil-hopkinson-1957-2021/|title=A tribute to Dr Neil Hopkinson (1957–2021)|access-date=19 February 2021|website=Trinity College, Cambridge|date=8 January 2021 }} by contrast, the Latinist Philip Hardie termed his commentary on the Hymn to Demeter as "a masterpiece of deep and judicious scholarship". A 2021 obituary published in The Times quoted a fellow classicist describing him as "one of the most influential commentators of his generation".
Selected publications
- {{Cite book|title=Callimachus: Hymn to Demeter|year=1984|isbn=978-0-521-60436-9|location=Cambridge|author1=Callimachus|ref=none}}
- {{Cite book|title=A Hellenistic anthology|year=1988|isbn=978-0-521-31425-1|location=Cambridge|ref=none|last1=Hopkinson |first1=Neil }}
- {{Cite book|title=Nonnos de Panopolis: Les Dionysiaques: Tome VIII: Chants XX-XXIV|year=1994|isbn=978-2-251-00440-2|location=Paris|ref=none|author1=Nonnos |last2=Panopolis |first2=Nonnos de |last3=Vian |first3=Francis |last4=Hopkinson |first4=Neil }}
- {{Cite book|title=Greek Poetry of the Imperial Period: An Anthology|year=1994|isbn=978-0-521-42313-7|location=Cambridge|last1=Hopkinson|first1=Neil|ref=none}}
- {{Cite book|title=Ovid: Metamorphoses: Book 13|year=2000|isbn=978-0-521-55620-0|location=Cambridge|ref=none|author1=Ovid |last2=Naso |first2=Publius Ovidius }}
- {{Cite book|title=Lucian: A Selection|year=2008|isbn=978-0-521-60304-1|location=Cambridge|author1=Lucian|ref=none}}
- {{Cite book|title=Theocritus. Moschus. Bion|year=2015|isbn=978-0-674-99644-1|location=Cambridge, MA|ref=none|author1=Theocritus |author2=Moschus }}
- Quintus Smyrnaeus. Posthomerica. ed. and trans. by Neil Hopkinson. Loeb edition, Harvard University Press 2018.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Bibliography
- {{Cite journal|title=Review of Metamorphoses XIII, ed. Neil Hopkinson|journal=The Classical Review|volume=51|last=Anderson|first=William S.|year=2001|doi=10.1093/cr/51.2.255}}
- {{Cite journal|title=Review of: Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter, ed. Neil Hopkinson|volume=108|journal=Journal of Hellenic Studies|last=Griffiths|first=Alan|year=1988|pages=230–4|doi=10.2307/632665|jstor=632665}}
- {{Cite journal|title=Review of Lucian. A Selection, ed. Neil Hopkinson|journal=Mnemosyne|last=Möllendorff|first=Peter von|volume=64|pages=673–6|year=2011|doi=10.1163/156852511X548324}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkinson, Neil}}
Category:Deaths from multiple myeloma in the United Kingdom
Category:Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Category:Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge