Sidney Burchill
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Sidney Lane Burchill is an Emeritus Professor of the Classics, currently residing in Sydney, Australia. Known more for his prolific correspondence than for his scholarship, he has (self) published several volumes of correspondence, including his best-known books Memoirs of a Serial Pest: Correspondence with Four Premiers and Getting it Right, (but mostly) Getting it Wrong: Correspondence with Australian Bureaucrats, 1945-1975. In 2007 Professor Burchill released a further volume, Why bureaucrats (usually) don't work.
Although retired since 1984, Burchill maintains his interest in public affairs and makes irregular appearances at conferences and as a seminar speaker.
Recently unclassified UK Ministry of Defense documents revealed that Professor Burchill played a role in the work of Bletchley Park's successful code-breaking operations during World War II.
Gaining a cult status in Sydney since the 1980s for his correspondence with government officers, Burchill was awarded the Key to the City (of Sydney) by the Lord Mayor in 1992.