{{Short description|German classical philologist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Otto Skutsch''' (6 December 1906 – 8 December 1990) was a German-born British [[classicist]] and academic, specialising in [[classical philology]]. He was [[Professor of Latin (University College London)|Professor of Latin]] at [[University College London]] from 1951 to 1972.<ref name="obit - Vergilius">{{cite journal|last1=Goold|first1=George P.|title=OTTO SKUTSCH: 6 December 1906, Breslau 9 December 1990, London|journal=Vergilius|date=1990|volume=36|pages=4–6|jstor=41592510|publisher=The Vergilian Society}}</ref>
==Early life== Skutsch was born on 6 December 1906 in [[Breslau]], then in the [[German Empire]].<ref name="obit - Independent">{{cite news|last1=Willcock|first1=M. M.|title=Professor Otto Skutsch|work=The Independent|issue=1301|date=13 December 1990|page=32}}</ref> He was the third child of [[Franz Skutsch]], a German [[classical philologist]].<ref name="obit - Gnomon">{{cite journal|last1=Jocelyn|first1=H. D.|title=Otto Skutsch|journal=Gnomon|date=1991|volume=63|issue=8|pages=746–749|jstor=27690928|publisher=Verlag C. H. Beck}}</ref> He was six years old when his father died.<ref name="Hermathena - Two Latin elegiac poems">{{cite journal|last1=Huxley|first1=Herbert H.|title=Two Latin elegiac poems by Otto Skutsch (1906-1990)|journal=Hermathena|date=2002|volume=172|issue=172|pages=23–24|jstor=23041281|publisher=Trinity College Dublin}}</ref> He was educated at the Friedrichs-Gymnasium in Breslau.<ref name="obit - Times">{{cite news|title=Professor Otto Skutsch|work=The Times|issue=63893|date=19 December 1990|page=14}}</ref> He then studied at the [[University of Breslau]], the [[University of Kiel]], the [[University of Berlin]], and the [[University of Göttingen]].<ref name="obit - Gnomon" /> He completed his [[Doctor of Philosophy]] (PhD) degree at Göttingen in 1934.<ref name="obit - Times" /> Because his father was Jewish, Skutsch saw the rise of the [[Nazi Party]] as a threat to himself, and so he left Germany for the [[United Kingdom]] sometime in 1934 or 1935.<ref name="obit - Independent" /><ref name="obit - Times" />
==Academic career== Having arrived in the United Kingdom, Skutsch secured a post at the [[University of St Andrews]] as a [[research assistant]] working on the compilation a dictionary of [[Latin]].<ref name="obit - Gnomon" /> This was achieved through [[W. M. Lindsay]], a professor at St Andrews who had had great respect for Skutsch's father.<ref name="obit - Independent" /> From 1938 to 1939, he was a senior assistant at [[Queen's University Belfast]].<ref name="obit - Gnomon" /> With the outbreak of [[World War II]] in September 1939, he was interned for the extent of the war as an [[enemy alien]].<ref name="obit - Times" /> He was granted [[British citizenship]] in 1946.<ref name="obit - Gnomon" />
In 1949, he joined the [[University of Manchester]] as a [[senior lecturer]] in classics.<ref name="obit - Times" /> In 1951, he was appointed [[Professor of Latin (University College London)|Professor of Latin]] at [[University College London]].<ref name="obit - Independent" /> In 1972, he retired and was appointed [[Emeritus#In academia|professor emeritus]].<ref name="obit - Times" /> From 1972 to 1973 and again in 1981, he was Visiting Andrew Mellon Professor of Classics at the [[University of Pittsburgh]].<ref name="obit - Independent" />
==Personal life== In 1938, Skutsch married Gillian Stewart. She was the daughter of [[Findlater Stewart|Sir Findlater Stewart]], a senior civil servant.<ref name="obit - Times" /> Together, they had four children; one son and three daughters.<ref name="obit - Independent" />
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Skutsch, Otto}} [[Category:1906 births]] [[Category:1990 deaths]] [[Category:British classical scholars]] [[Category:German classical scholars]] [[Category:Academics of University College London]] [[Category:Classical scholars of the University of London]] [[Category:Writers from Wrocław]] [[Category:University of Breslau alumni]] [[Category:University of Kiel alumni]] [[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni]] [[Category:University of Göttingen alumni]] [[Category:Academics of the University of St Andrews]] [[Category:Academics of Queen's University Belfast]] [[Category:Academics of the University of Manchester]] [[Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom]]