Russell, Donald, 1920-2020

Donald Russell, Professor of Classical Literature at Oxford University and Fellow of St John’s College, specialised in imperial Greek literature, especially Plutarch, and in literary criticism, rhetoric and declamation, both Latin and Greek. His work was especially notable for its sensitivity to language and style, a strength that was useful to him as a Bletchley code-breaker in the Second World War and that was just as evident in his classical scholarship, including the many emendations he suggested as a textual critic. He continued to publish widely and to pass on suggestions to others, into his late 90s.