Eleanor Purdie (10 January 1872 - 5 May 1929) was an English philologist and the first woman to obtain a doctorate from the University of Fribourg.
Eleanor Purdie | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 January 1872 Dalston, London |
| Died | 5 May 1929 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge University of Fribourg |
| Thesis | The Perfective 'Aktionsart' in Polybius (1898) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Classics |
| Sub-discipline | philology |
| Institutions | Cheltenham Ladies' College |
| Notable works | Liviana |
Biography
editEleanor Purdie was born in Dalston in 1872 to Elizabeth White Blight and Walter Charles Fry Purdie. Her mother had been a proprietor of a family booksellers in Bideford, who, after her marriage continued to contribute to the family finances by working as a Berlin wool dealer. Her father was a bank clerk who was probably employed by Willis, Percival & Co., bankers in Lombard Street until their demise in 1878. She had two older siblings, Florence (who became Headmistress of the High School, Exeter)[1] and Walter, and a younger brother Cecil.[2][3]
Purdie attended Notting Hill High School for seven years. In 1889, she obtained a St Dunstan's exhibition, which she then held for three years of undergraduate studies at Newnham College, Cambridge. She obtained a First class in both parts of the Classical Tripos in 1894,[4] gaining a star in Part II and placed top in section E.[5] At the time, women were not awarded degrees by Cambridge University, which posed bureaucratic problems for her when she applied to the University of Fribourg for her doctorate.[6] A Marion Kennedy Studentship enabled her to become the first woman student at Fribourg. After a year of studying Sanskrit, Greek and Indo-European philology, she took a Fellowship at Bryn Mawr College.[7] She obtained a PhD in classical philology from Fribourg in 1896 under the guidance of Wilhelm Streitberg, an Indo-Europeanist.[8]
Purdie taught for a year at her high school, before joining the staff of Cheltenham Ladies' College in 1898.[7] She continued to teach there for 25 years, retiring in 1923 from the position of Senior Classical Mistress.[9][10]
Besides her doctoral thesis, Purdie wrote several primers for Latin language instruction for high school. It has been pointed out that she also co-edited a collection of essays in comparative philology,[11] although her contributions were relegated to the acknowledgements.[12]
Purdie was active in pedagogy, writing articles on women's education in the US, Germany and Switzerland.[13] She was also part of a movement to unify grammatical terminology, submitting a co-written report that made twenty-five recommendations for the standardisation of usage across languages, modern and ancient.[14]
Purdie died on 5 May 1929,[7] and was interred in the Prestbury churchyard.[10]
Legacy
editThe Eleanor Purdie Prize for Greek Composition was established in 1936 by Newnham College.[15]
Works
editArticles
edit- Purdie, Eleanor (1898). "The Perfective 'Aktionsart' in Polybius". In Brugmann, Karl; Streitberg, Wilhelm (eds.). Indogermanische Forschungen. Zeitschrift für indogermanische Sprach- und Altertumskunde. Vol. 9. Karl J. Trübner.
- Purdie, Eleanor (1899). "University Education for Women in America, Germany and Switzerland". Educational Review: A Magazine of the Science and Art of Education and Review of Current Educational Literature and Events. 1.
Books
edit- Purdie, Eleanor (1924). Liviana: A Second Year Reader and Writer Based on Livy I and II. Cambridge University.
- Purdie, Eleanor (1925). Fabulae heroicae. Cambridge University.
- Purdie, Eleanor; Saunders, M. B. (1932). Matriculation Latin. Bell.
References
edit- ^ NHHS Magazine 1905, p. 30.
- ^ England Births 1872.
- ^ England Census 1881.
- ^ Leeds Mercury 1894, p. 8.
- ^ Clackson 2021.
- ^ Evans 2004, p. 29.
- ^ a b c NHHS Magazine 1930, p. 20.
- ^ Altermatt 2009, p. 276.
- ^ Cheltenham Chronicle 1929, p. 12.
- ^ a b Gloucestershire Echo 1929.
- ^ Beard 2017.
- ^ Darbishire 1895, p. 15.
- ^ Purdie 1899, p. 188.
- ^ Lodge 1910.
- ^ CUC 1974, p. 589.
Citations
edit- "Eleanor Purdie". England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837–2008. 1872.
- "Eleanor Purdie". England and Wales Census. 1881.
- "University Intelligence: Great Newnham Classics". Leeds Mercury. 22 June 1894.
- Darbishire, Herbert Dukinfield, ed. (1895). Relliquiæ Philologicæ: Or, Essays in Comparative Philology. Cambridge University.
- "List of Members of Old Girls' Association in 1904". The Notting Hill High School Magazine (21). 1905.
- Lodge, G. (12 March 1910). "Editorial: Uniform Grammatical Terminology". The Classical Weekly. 3 (19).
- "Miss Eleanor Purdie, PhD". Cheltenham Chronicle. 11 May 1929.
- "Miss Eleanor Purdie: Burial at Prestbury". Gloucestershire Echo. 10 May 1929.
- "Doings of Old Girls". The Notting Hill High School Magazine (45). 1930.
- Cambridge University Calendar 1973–74. Cambridge University. 27 June 1974. ISBN 9780521203968.
- Evans, G.R. (25 June 2004). The University of Cambridge: A New History. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85773-024-4.
- Altermatt, Urs (2009). Die Universität Freiburg auf der Suche nach Identität. Saint-Paul. ISBN 978-3-7278-1600-0.
- Blight, Ivor (2012). "William Blight and Daughters: Booksellers of Bideford". Quadrat (25).
- Beard, Mary (21 May 2017). "James Clackson's inaugural: Dangerous Lunatics?".
- Clackson, James (2021). "Dangerous Lunatics: Comparative Philology in Cambridge and Beyond". In Harrison, Stephen; Pelling, Christopher (eds.). Classical Scholarship and Its History. De Gruyter. pp. 131–54. doi:10.1515/9783110719215-007.