| Administrative History | John Stuart Blackie was born in Glasgow on 28 July 1809, but educated in Aberdeen (at the Grammar School and at Marischal College), and the universities of Edinburgh, Göttingen and Berlin. Though he studied both law and theology (and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in July 1834), he became instead a poet and a Classical scholar. He held the chair of Humanity (Latin) at Marischal College, Aberdeen, from 1841 to 1852 and from then until 1882 he was Professor of Greek at Edinburgh University. He became increasingly in the public eye, lecturing vividly (he would frequently end lectures with a song) on a variety of subjects all over Scotland, and espoused Scottish nationalist sentiments. His lengthy list of publications reflected his widespread interests, including Greek texts and Scottish songs. He died on 2 March 1895 in Edinburgh, and his funeral turned out to be a very well-attended event, reflecting the extent to which his genial eccentricity appealed to the public. On his death, he further demonstrated the variety of his interests by founding and endowing the Chair of Celtic Studies at Edinburgh. |