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Eleanor Purdie

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Eleanor Purdie
Born10 January 1872
Dalston, London
Died5 May 1929
Cheltenham
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
University of Fribourg
ThesisThe Perfective 'Aktionsart' in Polybius (1898)
Academic work
DisciplineClassics
Sub-disciplinephilology
InstitutionsCheltenham Ladies' College
Notable worksLiviana
Dr. Eleanor Purdie with the Cheltenham Ladies' matriculation class 1918–19. She is in the middle of the seated row

Eleanor Purdie (10 January 1872 - 5 May 1929) was an English philologist and the first woman to obtain a doctorate from the University of Fribourg.

Biography

Eleanor Purdie was born in Dalston in 1872 to Elizabeth White Blight and Walter Charles Fry Purdie. Her mother had been a proprietor of a family booksellers in Bideford, who, after her marriage continued to contribute to the family finances by working as a Berlin wool dealer. Her father was a bank clerk who was probably employed by Willis, Percival & Co., bankers in Lombard Street until their demise in 1878. She had two older siblings, Florence (who became Headmistress of the High School, Exeter)[1] and Walter, and a younger brother Cecil.[2][3]

Purdie attended Notting Hill High School for seven years. In 1889, she obtained a St Dunstan's exhibition, which she then held for three years of undergraduate studies at Newnham College, Cambridge. She obtained a First class in both parts of the Classical Tripos in 1894,[4] gaining a star in Part II and placed top in section E.[5] At the time, women were not awarded degrees by Cambridge University, which posed bureaucratic problems for her when she applied to the University of Fribourg for her doctorate.[6] A Marion Kennedy Studentship enabled her to become the first woman student at Fribourg. After a year of studying Sanskrit, Greek and Indo-European philology, she took a Fellowship at Bryn Mawr College.[7] She obtained a PhD in classical philology from Fribourg in 1896 under the guidance of Wilhelm Streitberg, an Indo-Europeanist.[8]

Purdie taught for a year at her high school, before joining the staff of Cheltenham Ladies' College in 1898.[7] She continued to teach there for 25 years, retiring in 1923 from the position of Senior Classical Mistress.[9][10]

Besides her doctoral thesis, Purdie wrote several primers for Latin language instruction for high school. It has been pointed out that she also co-edited a collection of essays in comparative philology,[11] although her contributions were relegated to the acknowledgements.[12]

Purdie was active in pedagogy, writing articles on women's education in the US, Germany and Switzerland.[13] She was also part of a movement to unify grammatical terminology, submitting a co-written report that made twenty-five recommendations for the standardisation of usage across languages, modern and ancient.[14]

Purdie died on 5 May 1929,[7] and was interred in the Prestbury churchyard.[10]

Legacy

The Eleanor Purdie Prize for Greek Composition was established in 1936 by Newnham College.[15]

Works

Articles

  • Purdie, Eleanor (1898). "The Perfective 'Aktionsart' in Polybius". In Brugmann, Karl; Streitberg, Wilhelm (eds.). Indogermanische Forschungen. Zeitschrift für indogermanische Sprach- und Altertumskunde. Vol. 9. Karl J. Trübner.
  • Purdie, Eleanor (1899). "University Education for Women in America, Germany and Switzerland". Educational Review: A Magazine of the Science and Art of Education and Review of Current Educational Literature and Events. 1.

Books

  • Purdie, Eleanor (1924). Liviana: A Second Year Reader and Writer Based on Livy I and II. Cambridge University.
  • Purdie, Eleanor (1925). Fabulae heroicae. Cambridge University.
  • Purdie, Eleanor; Saunders, M. B. (1932). Matriculation Latin. Bell.

References

  1. ^ NHHS Magazine 1905, p. 30.
  2. ^ England Births 1872.
  3. ^ England Census 1881.
  4. ^ Leeds Mercury 1894, p. 8.
  5. ^ Clackson 2021.
  6. ^ Evans 2004, p. 29.
  7. ^ a b c NHHS Magazine 1930, p. 20.
  8. ^ Altermatt 2009, p. 276.
  9. ^ Cheltenham Chronicle 1929, p. 12.
  10. ^ a b Gloucestershire Echo 1929.
  11. ^ Beard 2017.
  12. ^ Darbishire 1895, p. 15.
  13. ^ Purdie 1899, p. 188.
  14. ^ Lodge 1910.
  15. ^ CUC 1974, p. 589.

Citations

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