Biography of Matthew Meiklejohn

Matthew Fontaine Maury Meiklejohn (1913-74) held the Stevenson Chair of Italian from 1949 until his death in 1974.

Meiklejohn was born in St Andrews and educated at Gresham's School, Holt. He then went as an open scholar in modern languages to Oriel College, Oxford and graduated in 1934 with First Class Honours in French and Italian. He was awarded a senior studentship in 1935 and a Harmsworth scholarship two years later at Merton.

In 1937 he was appointed to a lectureship in Italian at Cape Town University where he also taught Old and Middle French. His career there came to an end in 1941 when he enlisted in the South African Army. He served with them for five years in East Africa, Palestine, Egypt and Italy. After the war, he worked briefly for the British Council in Teheran.

Meiklejohn was appointed Head of the Department of Italian at Leeds University in 1946. Three years later he moved to Glasgow to become Stevenson Professor of Italian. His main research interests were Dante, Settecento literature, linguistic history and the Sardinian language. He was honoured with the Cavaliere della Solidarieta Italiana by the Italian Government.

Meiklejohn was ornothology columnist with the Glasgow Herald for twenty years and had his thousandth article published the year before he died. He published papers on the birds of Iran and on the migration of European birds in Africa.

Summary

Matthew Meiklejohn
Language Scholar and Ornithologist
Born 1913, St Andrews, Scotland.
Died 14 May 1974.
GU Degree:
University Link: Professor
Occupation categories: language scholars; ornithologists
Record last updated: 26th Feb 2013

Country Associations

Scotland
Place of Birth

England, West Yorkshire, Leeds

Iran, Islamic Republic of, Teheran

South Africa, Cape Town

University Connections

University Roles

• Professor

Academic Posts

Professorships:

• Italian (Stevenson Chair)