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Charles Dowsett

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Charles Dowsett
Born2 January 1924
United Kingdom
Died8 January 1998(1998-01-08) (aged 74)
NationalityBritish
Other namesCharles Downing
Occupation(s)Professor, writer

Charles James Frank Dowsett (2 January 1924 – 8 January 1998) was the first Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian at the University of Oxford from 1965 to 1991.[1] A teacher and raconteur, he had a large range of interests and culminated in his work on the poet Sayat Nova based on research on the Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium in 1996.

Armenian scholar

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Born in London, Dowsett came into contact with expert scholar Harold Bailey whilst at Peterhouse, Cambridge, who introduced him to Armenian. After further study (including four years on a substantial British scholarship in Paris), Dowsett was appointed as lecturer in Armenian at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London - the only post in the subject in Britain at the time. In 1965 when the chair was established at Oxford University, he was the obvious candidate.[2]

Bibliography

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  • History of the Caucasian Albanians (1961) (translator)
  • Penitential of David of Gandzak (1961) (translator)
  • The Inscribed Tiles (1972)
  • Kütahya Tiles and Pottery from the Armenian Cathedral of St.James, Jerusalem. 2 Volumes. With John Carswell, Oxford: Clarendon Press (1972)
  • Sayat'-Nova: An 18th-century Troubadour: a Biographical and Literary Study (1996) ISBN 978-90-6831-795-4

Children's author

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Dowsett wrote under the pseudonym "Charles Downing" and published several works for children.

Bibliography

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  • Tales of the Hodja (1964) - illustrated by the Greek cartoonist Papas.
  • Russian Tales and Legends (1956)
  • Armenian Folktales and Fables (1972)

Notes

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  1. ^ Pembroke College, Oxford University, Fellows joining in the 1960s Archived February 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Brock, Sebastian (1998) Obituary: Professor C. J. F. Dowsett. The Independent, 16 January 1998.

References

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