Francis Henry Sandbach FBA (23 February 1903 – 18 September 1991), generally known as Harry Sandbach, was a British academic, who held the position of the Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow and Senior Tutor of Trinity College.

Harry Sandbach
An old man, smiling slightly, in a formal suit and glasses.
Photographed in old age
Born
Francis Henry Sandbach

23 February 1903
Edgbaston, Birmingham, England
Died18 September 1991 (1991-09-19) (aged 88)
Education
OccupationClassical scholar
Known for
Notable workTranslations of books VII, IX, XI, and XV of Plutarch's Moralia
Spouse
(m. 1932; died 1990)

Early years edit

Francis Henry Sandbach was born in Edgbaston,[1] the elder son of Professor Francis Edward Sandbach, then a lecturer in German at the University of Birmingham,[2] and his wife Ethel Bywater, a teacher.[1]

He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, where he became school captain,[1] and attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he held the Browne and Craven scholarships in 1923, and was awarded the Chancellor's Medal and the Charles Oldham Classical Scholarship in 1925.[3]

Career edit

After graduating, he was appointed to an assistant lectureship at the University of Manchester from 1926 to 1929. In 1927 he was awarded a fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1929 left Manchester to take up a lectureship at the college. In 1951 he was appointed as the Brereton Reader in Classics, and in 1967 given a professorship, which he held until his retirement in 1970. In 1968, he was made a Fellow of the British Academy. Within Trinity, he was a tutor from 1945–1952 and senior tutor from 1952–56; in 1940–41 he held the University position of Junior Proctor.[3]

During the Second World War, Sandbach served as an air raid warden between 1939 and 1943.[1] He was seconded to the Admiralty in 1943–45, where he worked in the Economic Section of the Topographic Department.[4]

Sandbach produced translations of books VII, IX, XI, and XV of Plutarch's Moralia, published by the Loeb Classical Library,[4] as well as material by Menander. In retirement, he published works on Menander, the Stoics, and Greco-Roman theatre.[3]

Private life edit

On 9 July 1932 he married the translator Mary Warburton, who he had known since his childhood. Their first child died soon after birth, but they later had a son and a daughter. Mary died in 1990.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Francis Henry Sandbach". Trinity College Chapel. Trinity College, Cambridge. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Sandbach, Emeritus Prof. Francis Edward". Who Was Who (Online ed.). A & C Black. 2007.
  3. ^ a b c "Sandbach, Prof. (Francis) Henry". Who Was Who (Online ed.). A & C Black. 2007.
  4. ^ a b Kenney, E.J. (2012). "Sandbach, Francis Henry (1903–1991)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49958. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B.; Goldman, L., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/98961. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/98961. ISBN 978-0-19-861411-1. Retrieved 14 March 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)