{{Short description|Philosophy professor and politician (born 1956)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}} {{Use British English|date=May 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Cllr | name = Catherine Rowett | honorific_suffix = | party = {{Nowrap|Green Party of England and Wales}} | image = Catherine Joanna Rowett in Cambridge upon 3 May 2019.jpg | caption = Catherine Rowett, Cambridge, 2019 | office = Norfolk County Councillor<br />for West Depwade division | term_start = 13 July 2023 | term_end = 7 May 2026 | predecessor = Barry Duffin | successor = Margaret Thomas | constituency_MP1 = East of England | term_start1 = 2 July 2019 | term_end1 = 31 January 2020 | predecessor1 = Alex Mayer | successor1 = Constituency abolished | parliament1 = European | module = {{Infobox academic |child=yes |thesis_title= |doctoral_advisor=George Christopher Stead |discipline=Philosophy |workplaces={{unbulleted list|New Hall, Cambridge|St Anne's College, Oxford|Swansea University|University of Liverpool|University of East Anglia}} |notable_works={{bulleted list|Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy: Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics|Knowledge and Truth in Plato: Stepping Past the Shadow of Socrates}} }} | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|12|29|df=yes}} | birth_place = Yeovil, Somerset, England | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | relations = | children = | occupation = | profession = | alma_mater = King's College, Cambridge | website = {{URL|https://catherinerowett.org/}} }}

'''Catherine Joanna Rowett''' (born 29 December 1956, previously publishing as '''Catherine Osborne''' from 1979 to 2011) is a British academic and former Member of the European Parliament representing the Green Party of England and Wales. She is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. She is known in particular for her work on Greek Philosophy, especially the Pre-Socratic philosophers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://people.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/c-rowett|title=Catherine Rowett - Research Database, The University of East Anglia|website=people.uea.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-09-30}}</ref> She was a Green Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 2019 until 31 January 2020, when the United Kingdom left the European Union.<ref name=elect/>

==Academic career == Rowett read Classics at the King's College, Cambridge, where she was also awarded her PhD with a dissertation on Hippolytus of Rome and Pre-Socratic philosophers. The dissertation was published as ''Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy: Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics'' by Cornell University Press in 1987.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Furley|first=David|date=1991|title=Review of Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy: Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics|journal=The Philosophical Review|volume=100|issue=1|pages=157–160|doi=10.2307/2185530|jstor=2185530}}</ref>

Rowett became a Junior Research Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge in 1984. In 1987, she took up a Senior Research Fellowship at St Anne's College, Oxford while also a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow. From 1990 Rowett was a lecturer in philosophy at Swansea University. On leaving Swansea in 2000, Rowett became Reader in Greek Culture at the University of Liverpool and then 2003 she moved to the University of East Anglia as a lecturer in philosophy. Rowett became Reader in 2006 , Professor of Philosophy in 2008 and Professor Emerita in 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=Catherine Rowett |url=https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/catherine-rowett/ |website=University of East Anglia |access-date=20 May 2026}}</ref> She was the Head of the School of Philosophy (later incorporated into the current School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies) from 2005 to 2008.<ref name=":0" /> . During her time as an MEP she was on unpaid leave from her University duties.

Rowett was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship from 2007 to 2009 for her work on knowledge and truth in Plato,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/sites/default/files/imported_pdfs/2007.pdf|title=The Leverhulme Trust: Awards Made in 2007|date=2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228012521/https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/sites/default/files/imported_pdfs/2007.pdf|archive-date=28 February 2017|url-status=dead|access-date=30 September 2018}}</ref> which formed the foundation of her work published as ''Knowledge and Truth in Plato: Stepping Past the Shadow of Socrates'' by Oxford University Press in 2018.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/knowledge-and-truth-in-plato-9780199693658?cc=us&lang=en&|title=Knowledge and Truth in Plato: Stepping Past the Shadow of Socrates|date=2018-06-26|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199693658|location=Oxford, New York}}</ref>

==Political career== Rowett stood as a Green Party candidate for the constituency of South Norfolk in the 2015 and 2017 general elections.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://southnorfolkgreens.wordpress.com/candidate/|title=Parliamentary candidate 2017|date=2015-03-25|work=South Norfolk Greens|access-date=2018-09-30|language=en-GB|archive-date=30 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930193651/https://southnorfolkgreens.wordpress.com/candidate/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dissmercury.co.uk/news/watch-who-is-standing-in-the-general-election-2017-in-south-norfolk-and-why-do-they-think-you-should-vote-for-them-1-5051205|title=WATCH: Who is standing in the General Election 2017 in South Norfolk and why do they think you should vote for them?|last=Grimmer|first=Dan|work=Diss Mercury|access-date=2018-09-30|language=en|archive-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528142501/https://www.dissmercury.co.uk/news/watch-who-is-standing-in-the-general-election-2017-in-south-norfolk-and-why-do-they-think-you-should-vote-for-them-1-5051205|url-status=dead}}</ref>

She was selected as the lead Green Party candidate for the East of England in the 2019 European Parliament election<ref>{{cite web |title=Catherine Rowett heads Green Party's push to elect an MEP in May |url=https://eastern.greenparty.org.uk/news/2019/04/18/catherine-rowett-heads-green-party%E2%80%99s-push-to-elect-an-mep-in-may/ |website=Eastern Green Party |access-date=22 May 2019 |date=18 April 2019 |archive-date=21 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521215956/https://eastern.greenparty.org.uk/news/2019/04/18/catherine-rowett-heads-green-party%E2%80%99s-push-to-elect-an-mep-in-may/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and was elected<ref name=elect>{{cite web |title=The UK's European elections 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/crjeqkdevwvt/the-uks-european-elections-2019 |website=BBC News |access-date=26 May 2019}}</ref> with her Green Party list receiving 12.7% of the votes cast.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Clarke |first1=Seán |last2=Gutiérrez |first2=Pablo |last3=Hulley-Jones |first3=Frank |title=European election latest results 2019: across the UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2019/may/26/european-election-latest-results-2019-uk-england-scotland-wales-ni-eu-parliament |access-date=28 May 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=27 May 2019 |location=London}}</ref> The party topped the poll in Norwich with 26% of the votes cast in the city.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Parliamentary Elections 23 May 2019 − Results of the Norwich count |url=https://www.norwich.gov.uk/info/20021/elections_and_voting/2312/european_parliamentary_elections_23_may_2019 |website=Norwich City Council |access-date=28 May 2019}}</ref> Her seat was dissolved on 31 January 2020, following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.

On 13 July 2023, Rowett was elected as a Green Party councillor on Norfolk County Council when she won the West Depwade by-election. From 2024 to 2026 she was leader of the Green Group. She stood down as councillor in May 2026.

==Personal Life== From 1979 to 2014 she was married to Robin Osborne and together they have two daughters.

== Selected publications == === As Catherine Rowett === * ''Knowledge and Truth in Plato: Stepping Past the Shadow of Socrates'' (Oxford University Press, 2018)

=== As Catherine Osborne === * ''Philoponus: On Aristotle Physics 1.4-9'' (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle, Duckworth, 2009) * ''Dumb beasts and Dead Philosophers: Humanity and the Humane in Ancient Philosophy and Literature'' (Oxford University Press, 2007)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Miles|first=Graeme|date=2007|title=Review of: Dumb Beasts and Dead Philosophers. Humanity and the Humane in Ancient Philosophy and Literature|url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2007/2007-09-60.html|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review|issn=1055-7660}}</ref> * ''Philoponus Commentary on Aristotle's Physics book 1.1-3'' (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle, Duckworth, 2006) * ''Presocratic Philosophy: a very Short Introduction'' (Oxford University Press, 2004) * ''Eros Unveiled: Plato and the God of Love'' (Clarendon Press, 1994)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Price|first=A. W.|date=1997|title=Review of Eros Unveiled. Plato and the God of Love|journal=International Journal of the Classical Tradition|volume=4|issue=1|pages=118–121|jstor=30222329}}</ref> * ''Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy: Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics'' (Cornell University Press, 1987)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schofield|first=Malcolm|date=1988|title=Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy: Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics. Catherine Osborne|journal=Isis|language=en|volume=79|issue=3|pages=537–538|doi=10.1086/354829|issn=0021-1753}}</ref>

See also [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catherine-Rowett Catherine Rowett on Researchgate]

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == {{commons category}} {{wikiquote}} * [https://people.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/c-rowett University of East Anglia staff page] * [https://www.facebook.com/Catherine.J.Rowett Facebook]

{{GPEW|Elected}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowett, Catherine}} Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:British classical scholars Category:Women classical scholars Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Category:Academics of the University of East Anglia Category:Green Party of England and Wales MEPs Category:Green Party of England and Wales parliamentary candidates Category:MEPs for England 2019–2020 Category:21st-century women MEPs for England Category:Members of Norfolk County Council