Philip Hobsbaum Professor of English Literature, Poet and Literary Talent-Spotter
Linked as:
Summary
PHILIP Dennis Hobsbaum was born on June 29, 1932, in Whitechapel, London to Joseph and Rachel (nee Sapera), first generation immigrant Jews from Russia. The family moved to Yorkshire in 1939, finally settling in Bradford in 1942. Philip attended Bellevue Grammar School before going as an exhibitioner to Downing College, Cambridge in 1952 where his tutor was the celebrated F R Leavis.
After Cambridge, he worked for a theatrical agent and contemplated a career in the emerging area of television. Instead, he became a schoolteacher at a model comprehensive in Tulse Hill, South London, where Ken Livingstone was one of his pupils. He once took Ken Livingstone's class on a visit to the Houses of Parliament, perhaps thereby sowing the seeds of the future Lord Mayor of London's political ambitions. In 1958 he went to Sheffield University to take his doctorate under the supervision of William Empson, togetherwith Leavis one of the two great critics of the age.See the full content of this document
Extract
Philip Hobsbaum Professor of English Literature, Poet and Literary Talent-Spotter
In 1962, he was appointed lecturer in the English department at Queen's College, Belfast. In 1966 he joined the English department at Glasgow University where he spent the rest of his teaching career, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1997.
He is survived by his wife, Rosemary, his two stepdaughters, Mary and Jane, and his three very welcome grandchildren, Amy, Jacob and Gregor.Where does one st...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
