Maurice Bowra
| Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra | |
|---|---|
Maurice Bowra being shown a computer in 1965
|
|
|
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford |
|
|
In office 1951–1954 |
|
| Preceded by | The Very Reverend John Lowe |
| Succeeded by | Alic Halford Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
8 April 1898 Jiujiang, China |
| Died | 4 July 1972 (aged 74) Oxford, England |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Years of service | 1917–1918 |
| Unit | Royal Artillery |
| Battles/wars |
World War I |
World War I
Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra CH (/ˈbaʊrə/; 8 April 1898 – 4 July 1971) was an English classical scholar, literary critic and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1951 to 1954.
Bowra was born in Jiujiang, China, to English parents. His father, Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra (1869–1947), who worked for the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, had been born in Ningpo, and his paternal grandfather, Edward Charles Bowra, had also worked for the Chinese Customs, after serving in the Ever Victorious Army under "Chinese Gordon". Soon after Bowra's birth his father was transferred to the treaty port of Newchwang, and the family lived there for the first five years of Bowra's life, except during the Boxer Rebellion, in the summer of 1900, when Bowra was evacuated to Japan along with his mother, his elder brother, Edward, and other women and children of the European community.
The family returned to England in 1903, travelling via Japan and the United States, and settled in the Kent countryside. Bowra later said that he had been fluent in Mandarin, but forgot the language after settling in England. Bowra's parents went back to China in February 1905, leaving their children in the care of their paternal grandmother, who, having been widowed, lived with her second husband, a clergyman, in Putney. During this time the boys received tuition from Ella Dell, sister of the writer Ethel M. Dell. The boys also attended a preparatory school in Putney, where Maurice came first in all classes except arithmetic. During his time at this school Bowra began his classical education with lessons from Cecil Botting, a master at St Paul's School and father of the writer Antonia White.
...
Wikipedia