George Forrest (Historian)
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William George Grieve Forrest, MA (born 24 September 1925, died 14 October 1997), known as George Forrest.
Oxford ancient historian and author.
Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford (1951-77), Wykeham Professor of Ancient History and Fellow of New College, Oxford (1977-92)
George Forrest was born in Glasgow and educated at University College School, Hampstead.
In 1943 he joined the RAF, and in the following years of war and then liberation he served in France and Belgium.
George entered New College as a scholar in 1947, took a first in Classical Moderations in 1949, and another in Literae Humaniores in 1951. In his final term he won the Derby Scholarship, usually awarded for travel abroad, and within months he was elected to a Tutorial Fellowship in Ancient History at Wadham College.
George was fiercely political and liberal in his views and worked tirelessly to free Greece from the tyranny under the Greek military junta of 1967-1974.
He was also a strong supporter of the campaign to return the Parthenon (Elgin) marbles to Athens, Greece and was one of the original members of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.
George returned to New College in 1977, having been elected Wykeham Professor.
He died of cancer in 1997, 5 years after retiring.
[edit] Select Works
- The Emergence of Greek Democracy (1966)
- A History of Sparta, 950-192 B.C. (1968)
