William Mitchell Ramsay

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Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (March 15, 1851, Glasgow –April 20, 1939) was a Scottish archaeologist and New Testament scholar. He was the first Professor of Classical Archaeology at Oxford University and pioneered the study of antiquity in what is today western Turkey.

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[edit] Life

Ramsay was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest son of a third-generation lawyer, Thomas Ramsay and his wife Jane Mitchell. His father died when he was six years old, and the family moved from the city to the family home in the country district near Alba. The help of his older brother and maternal uncle, Andrew Mitchell, made it possible for him to have a superior education. He studied at the University of Aberdeen, where he achieved high distinction. He won a scholarship to St. John's College, Oxford, where he obtained a first class in classical moderations (1874) and in literae humaniores (1876). He also studied Sanskrit under scholar Theodor Benfey at Göttingen.

In 1880, Ramsay received an Oxford studentship for travel and research in Greece. At Smyrna, he met Sir C. W. Wilson, then British consul-general in Anatolia, who advised him on inland areas suitable for exploration. Ramsay and Wilson made two long journeys in 1881-1882.

He travelled widely in Asia Minor and rapidly became the recognized authority on all matters relating to the districts associated with St Paul's missionary journeys and on Christianity in the early Roman Empire. Greece and Turkey remained the focus of Ramsay's research for the remainder of his academic career. He was known for his expertise in the historic geography and topography of Asia Minor and of its political, social, cultural and religious history. He was Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford in 1882.

From 1885 to 1886, Ramsay held the newly created Lincoln and Merton professorship of classical archaeology and art at Oxford and became a fellow of Lincoln College (honorary fellow 1898). In 1886, Ramsay was appointed Regius Professor of Humanity at the University of Aberdeen. He remained affiliated with Aberdeen until his retirement in 1911. From 1880 onwards hereceived the honorary degrees of D.C.L. Oxford, LL.D. St Andrews and Glasgow, and D.D. Edinburgh. In 1906, Ramsay was knighted for his scholarly achievements on the four hundredth anniversary of the founding of the University of Aberdeen. He was elected a member of learned societies in Europe and America, and was awarded medals by the Royal Geographical Society, and the University of Pennsylvania.

[edit] Family

His wife, Lady Ramsay, granddaughter of Dr Andrew Marshall of Kirkintilloch, accompanied him in many of his journeys and is the author of Everyday Life in Turkey (1897) and The Romance of Elisavet (1899). He was a grandson of William Mitchell (Scottish entrepreneur) (1781 - 1854).

[edit] Publications

  • Pictures of the Apostolic Church: Studies in the Book of Acts
  • The Church of the Roman Empire Before AD 170
  • The Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia (2 vols., 1895, 1897)
  • The First Christian Century: Notes on Dr. Moffatt's Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament
  • The Historical Geography of Asia Minor (1890)
  • The Church in the Roman Empire (1893)
  • St Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen (1895; Germ. trans., 1898)
  • Impressions of Turkey (1897)
  • Was Christ born at Bethlehem? (1898)
  • Historical Commentary on Galatians (1899)
  • The Education of Christ (1902)
  • The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia (1905)
  • Pauline and other Studies in Early Christian History (1906)
  • Studies in the History and Art of the Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire (1906)
  • The Cities of St Paul (1907)
  • Lucan and Pauline Studies (1908)
  • The Thousand and One Churches (with Gertrude L. Bell, 1909)
  • articles in learned periodicals and the 9th, 10th and 11th editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
  • Impressions of Turkey During Twelve Years of Wanderings" (1897)

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