JOAN M. BIGWOOD (1937-2017) Joan Bigwood received her MA in 1958 from the University of St. Andrews and her PhD in 1964 from Radcliffe College at Harvard University. She then taught at Victoria College, at the University of Toronto. She became Associate Professor in 1975 and Associate and then Continuing Member of the School of Graduate Studies starting in 1982. Professor Bigwood’s area of research specialization was Greek history of the Classical Period, as well as Achaemenid Persia. After her retirement in 2001, she continued to publish on the representation of Persian women in Greek historiography.
ALEXANDER DALZELL (1925–2019) Alexander Dalzell was received his BA, MA, and BLitt (1956) at Trinity College, Dublin. After holding positions at other institutions he taught at Trinity College at the University of Toronto beginning in 1954 and was promoted to Professor in 1968. He was Dean of Arts at Trinity College (1968-73) and Vice-Provost (1972-79). In recognition of his service he was made an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College. Professor Dalzell also served the Classical Association of Canada as Treasurer (1958-60), Vice-President (1978-80), and President (1980-82). He served the journal Phoenix as Review Editor and Associate Editor (1960-64) and Editor (1964-71). He also served the American Philological Association in various capacities. The scholarship of Professor Dalzell focused on Latin literature, and he was a member of the Editorial Board for the Collected Works of Erasmus.
R. ELAINE FANTHAM (1933-2016) Elaine Fantham received her BA at Oxford University before returning to her native city of Liverpool to earn her PhD in 1965. She held teaching posts at St Andrews University and Indiana University before joining Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1968, where was promoted to Professor 1978. Professor Fantham served as Vice-President of the Classical Association of Canada from 1982-84, during which period she also served as Vice-President and then President of the Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric (1983-1986). In 1986 she was appointed Giger Professor of Latin in the Department of Classics at Princeton University. For the American Philological Association she served as President-Elect (2003) and President (2004); in January 2009, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Philological Association in recognition of her superlative service to the profession. After retiring in 2000, Professor Fantham returned to Toronto, where she made significant contributions to the Department of Classics and continued to be an engaging colleague and supportive mentor to many. She also served as the Honorary President of the Classical Association of Canada from 2001 to 2006, and in May 2015 Professor Fantham was honored with the Classical Association of Canada Award of Merit. Known both for the wide range and for the accessibility of her scholarship, Professor Fantham was the author of seventeen books and over a hundred articles and book chapters, and she was continually in demand as a speaker around the world. From 1996 onward she contributed frequently to the National Public Radio in the United States on classical topics.
M. OWEN LEE (1930-2020) Father Lee received his BA and MA in Classics from the University of Toronto in 1957, and his PhD in Classics from the University of British Columbia in 1960. He also received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology at St. Michael’s College in 1957, the same year he was ordained as a priest in the Congregation of St. Basil. Father Lee taught for decades at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, and he also held positions at other institutions in the period of 1968 to 1975. After his return to the University of Toronto, he was promoted to Professor in 1979 and appointed to the graduate program of the Classics Department from 1990-95. Father Lee received outstanding teaching awards three times at the University of St. Thomas and at the University of Toronto in 1994. He was the author of numerous academic articles and books on Latin poetry, and he was also the author of many popular articles and books about cinema, music, and opera. He was also celebrated as a participant in the intermission radio program for the Metropolitan Opera, and he was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Windsor in 1994, the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1998, and St. Michael’s College in 2001.
HUGH MASON (1943-2023) Hugh John Mason was born in 1943. After receiving his BA (First Class) in Classics at McGill in 1965, he took his Masters (1965) and PhD (1968) in Classical Philology from Harvard University. He worked at the University of Toronto for 43 years. He was a devoted teacher of Greek literature and culture in the Department of Classics, where he was hired as an Assistant Professor in 1968 and promoted to Associate Professor in 1972; he also served as both Undergraduate Coordinator (1995-1999, 2008-2011) and Graduate Coordinator (2003-2004). In addition to his contribution to the Department, Professor Mason was Registrar of New College from 1977 to 1992 and Acting Principal of the college from 1982 to 1983. In the Classics Department he is remembered as a kind and generous teacher, supervisor, and colleague. Professor Mason’s scholarship was wide-ranging. His earliest work was a lexicon and analysis of Greek institutional vocabulary, the topic of a book (Greek Terms for Roman Institutions: A Lexicon and Analysis. Toronto: Hakkert, 1974) and several articles. Much of his career was devoted to the study of the Ancient Novel, especially Apuleius and Longus, and to the history and culture of Lesbos. But he also had interests in modern Greek literature and in eighteenth-century music and culture; the latter interest lives on in the Department’s post-lecture “bottega del caffè,” so named by Professor Mason after Goldoni’s comedy. He was a dedicated member of the Classical Association of Canada, serving as Secretary from 1974 to 1975, and presented more than a dozen papers at the annual meetings of the association, most recently at the 2022 meeting at Western University. He also served as Associate Editor of Phoenix from 1995 to 2006 and published numerous articles and reviews in the journal. Professor Mason is survived by his wife, Lou; their children, James (Gina), Jessica (Elliott) and Jo; grandchildren, Cyprin, Alexia, Rebekah, Aristidis and Anna-Sophia; his older brother, Roger (Marion) and his family; and his younger brother, Philip (Kylie). The Department extends its sympathies to the family. In lieu of flowers, donations in Professor Mason's memory to either the University of Toronto, Faculty of Arts & Science Annual Fund to support student scholarships or to the Daily Bread Foodbank to fight hunger would be appreciated.
WALLACE EDMOND McLEOD (1931-2020) Professor McLeod graduated from Victoria College in the University of Toronto in 1953 with a degree in Classics (Greek and Latin), and he earned a Masters degree (1954) and his PhD (1966) in Classics at Harvard. He studied archaeology as a Fellow of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens for two years (1957-1959), and he held teaching positions at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut (1955-1956), University of British Columbia (1959-1961), and University of Western Ontario (1961-1962), before he returned to his alma mater, Victoria College. There he taught Ancient Greek Language and Literature from 1962 onward, and he was promoted to Professor in 1974. Professor McLeod was a specialist in Homer, with expertise in oral poetics, and he was celebrated on campus as a genial and engaging teacher.
EMMET ROBBINS (1939-2011) Emmet Robbins received his BA (1963), MA (1965), and PhD (1968) at the University of Toronto. After several years abroad he returned to his alma mater and began to teach at St. Michael’s College of the University of Toronto in 1972. He was promoted to Professor in 1988, and starting in 1990 he served as Chair of the Department of Classics for seven years. A meticulous scholar, he contributed more than 80 articles to the New Pauly. A volume of his publications on early Greek poetry and myth, Thalia Delighting in Song: Essays on Ancient Greek Poetry, was published in 2013. A gifted musician, as well as widely and deeply cultured in all arts, Professor Robbins was cherished as an engaging teacher and mentor. The Emmet Robbins Memorial Graduate Award in Classics was established in his honour.
ALAM SAMUEL (1932-2008) Alan Samuel received his BA from Hamilton College in 1953, and his MA and PhD from Yale University in 1957 and 1959 respectively. He taught at Yale University from 1959 to 1966 before joining the Department of Classics at the University of Toronto in 1966; he was promoted to Professor in 1969. The author or co-author of ten books and numerous articles, Professor Samuel was a renowned ancient historian and papyrologist, with expertise in the interpretation of ostraka as well as papyri, Ptolemaic chronology and bureaucracy, Hellenism and Christianity.
KENNETH R. THOMPSON (1930-2016) Kenneth Thompson received his BA in 1953 from Queen’s University and his AM in 1954 from Harvard University. From 1955-1957 he taught as Lecturer in Classics at Dalhousie University. After further study at Harvard, in 1959 he began to each at Victoria College, University of Toronto. In 1973 he was promoted to Associate Professor. From 1975 to 1978 he served as in the college Registrar’s office, thence as Registrar until 1995, while he continued to teach Introductory Latin and Greek. Ken Thompson retired n 1996 and remained closely involved with Victoria College thereafter.
D.F.S. THOMSON (1919-2009) D.F.S. Thomson attended Merton College, Oxford, receiving the award of the Postmastership in Classics (1939). His BA was interrupted by service in the war, from which he returned to complete his BA and MA in 1945-1947. He taught at Glasgow Academy in 1948 before taking up a position as Lecturer in the Department of Classics at University College in the University of Toronto. His scholarly specialization was in Latin literature and textual criticism, with a focus on Catullus and Erasmus. In addition, Professor Thomson co-edited, co-annotated and co-translated six volumes of the correspondence of Erasmus in collaboration with R.A.B. Mynors (and others), as well as co-editing (with H.C. Porter) a volume of Erasmus’ Cambridge letters, all of which appeared in the Collected Works of Erasmus imprint of the University of Toronto Press.
MALCOLM BARTON WALLACE (1941-2008) After attending University College of the University of Toronto from 1958 to 1963, “Mac” Wallace studied in 1963-1964 at Oxford, where he earned a second BA (first class) in 1967. At Toronto he received his MA (1966) and PhD (1972). Starting in 1969 he taught at University College, as had his father and grandfather; he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1975. He served as Review Editor, Associate Editor, and Editor of Phoenix from 1971-1988. Renowned as a polymath, he specialized in Herodotus, epigraphy, and numismatics. The archeological site at Karystos on Euboea was the topic of his doctoral dissertation, and he was director of the Canadian Karystia Project from1984-1995. He also served as President of the Canadian Institute in Greece. He was cherished as a dedicated teacher and mentor, within the university and beyond. The M.B. Wallace Memorial Graduate Award in Classics was established in his memory by his sister Philippa Matheson.
FREDERICK ELLIOTT WINTER (1922-2011) Fred Winter, born in St. John, Barbados, received his BA from McGill University (with Gold Medal in Classics) in 1945. He received his doctorate from the University of Toronto in 1957, in the Department of Art and Archaeology, with a thesis on Greek Fortifications, a version of which was published as a Phoenix supplementary volume. He held a tenured position in the Department of Art and Archaeology, but also taught in the Classics Department and Trinity College. In a fifty-year career at the University of Toronto, he served the University in many other ways, including a term as President of the University of Toronto Faculty Association. In retirement, he served on the board of the Canadian Institute in Greece, a country to which he was as devoted as to his adopted country Canada.