George Cawkwell

Who is George Cawkwell?

George Law Cawkwell is a classical scholar who has specialized in ancient history of Greece in the 4th century BC.

George Cawkwell was educated at King's College, Auckland in New Zealand and became head boy there. He attended the University of Auckland from 1938, gaining BA and MA degrees. He joined the army in 1942 during World War II and fought with the Fijian Infantry in the Solomons in 1944.

Cawkwell was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, studying at Christ Church. He played in the position of lock for the Scotland national rugby union team, gaining his cap in 1947.

For most of his life, Cawkwell was a Fellow and Praelector in Ancient History of University College, Oxford. He was a Fellow from 1949 to 1987 and then became an Emeritus Fellow. He authored a number of books on ancient history. His students included the classical scholars Ernst Badian and Raphael Sealey. He won the Runciman Award in 1998 for his book Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War.

Cawkwell was the first "Procurator" of University College, fund-raising for the 750th anniversary of the college in 1999. The George Cawkwell Fellowship in Ancient History has been established at the college.