Arthur Berriedale Keith

{{Short description|Scottish constitutional lawyer and Indologist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Use British English|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = | name = Arthur Berriedale Keith | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FBA}} | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1879|4|5}} | birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|1944|10|6|1879|4|5|mf=y}} | death_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | region = | spouse = Margaret Balfour Allan | children = | era = | language = | discipline = Constitutional law, Sanskrit, South Asian studies | sub_discipline = | movement =  | education = | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list |Balliol College, Oxford | University of Edinburgh}} | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | notable_students =  | main_interests = | workplaces = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influences =  | influenced =  | awards = | website = | footnotes = }} thumb|The grave of Arthur Berriedale Keith, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh

'''Arthur Berriedale Keith''' (5 April 1879 – 6 October 1944) was a Scottish constitutional lawyer, scholar of Sanskrit and Indologist. He became Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology and Lecturer on the Constitution of the British Empire in the University of Edinburgh. He served in this role from 1914 to 1944.

== Biography == Arthur Berriedale Keith was born in Edinburgh, the fourth child and third son of Davidson Keith (1842–1921), an advertising agent, and Margaret Stobie Keith, ''née'' Drysdale (1851–1911). All his five siblings were associated with the British Empire in Burma and India: Sir William John Keith KCSI, ICS, was acting governor of Burma in 1925, R. C. Steuart Keith (1876-1919)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keith |first=Arthur Berridale |title=Rigveda Brahmanas: The Aitareya and Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1920 |edition=1st |location=Cambridge, Mass. |pages=v |language=en}}</ref> was a sessions judge in Burma, Alan Davidson Keith (died 1928) was a barrister in Burma. Both of his sisters married British expatriates in the region.

Keith was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh (MA 1897; DLitt 1914), and Balliol College, Oxford (BA 1900; BCL 1905; DCL 1911). At Oxford he took firsts in Classical Moderations (1899), in Sanskrit and Pali (1900), and in ''Literae humaniores'' (1901). He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1904 and became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1921.

He joined the Colonial Office as a clerk in 1901, having ranked first in the Home and Indian civil service examinations; he was said to have received the highest marks ever. He remained in the department until 1914, except for a period with the Crown Agents from 1903 to 1905. From 1912 to 1914 he was private secretary to the permanent under-secretary, Sir John Anderson.

In 1914, he became Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at the University of Edinburgh. In 1927 he additionally became Lecturer on the Constitution of the British Empire.

Keith was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1935.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Arthur+B.+Keith&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> Keith was awarded an honorary LLD from the University of Leeds in 1936. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1935, but resigned in 1939.

He is buried in Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh with his wife, Margaret Balfour Allan (died 1934). The grave lies on the south side of the central vaults, adjacent to the central archway through the vaults.

== Works == {{Wikisource author-inline}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

; Bibliography * {{cite book |author = Ridgway Foulks Shinn |title = Arthur Berriedale Keith, 1879-1944: The Chief Ornament of Scottish Learning |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2fAgAAAAMAAJ |date = 1 January 1990 |publisher=Aberdeen University Press |isbn = 978-0-08-037737-7 }} * {{cite book |author=Ridgway Foulks Shinnb |title =Guide to Arthur Berriedale Keith Papers and Correspondence, 1896-1941 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=POfxSAAACAAJ |year = 1981 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Arthur Berriedale}} Category:1879 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Academics from Edinburgh Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh Category:British Sanskrit scholars Category:Scottish civil servants Category:20th-century Scottish historians Category:Scottish Indologists Category:Scottish legal writers Category:Scottish philologists Category:Scottish religious writers Category:Scottish political writers Category:Scottish translators Category:British barristers Category:Lawyers from Edinburgh Category:Burials at the Grange Cemetery Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society