G. E. M. de Ste. Croix

Geoffrey Ernest Maurice de Ste. Croix (8 February 1910 – 5 February 2000) known informally as Croicks was a British historian who specialised in examining the classical era from Marxist perspective. He was Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at New College, Oxford from 1953-1977, where he notably taught the scholars Robin Lane Fox and Nicholas Richardson.

De Ste. Croix was born in Macau and was educated at Clifton College, in Bristol. He left school at the age of 15 and become an articled clerk, which allowed him to train as a solicitor, without a degree in law. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1932 and practised until 1940.

He had a strong physique and was a talented tennis player, competing in the singles' and doubles' tournament at Wimbledon from 1930-2.

During World War II he joined the Royal Air Force, and was stationed for a time in Egypt, where he had the opportunity to expand his knowledge of ancient languages.

After the war ended, de Ste. Croix studied ancient history at University College, London. In 1950-53 he taught at the London School of Economics and Birkbeck College, before being appointed a fellow of New College, Oxford. He lived at Oxford for the rest of his life.

Within the circles of classical scholarship, de Ste. Croix — as an exponent of a Marxian epistemological approach — was frequently involved in debate with Sir Moses Finley, an advocate of Weberian societal analysis. The two often exchanged letters and their disagreements were always civil.

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