William M. Ramsey

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Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (March 15, 1851 - April 20, 1939) was a Scottish writer, New Testament scholar and archaeologist. He was the first Professor of Classical Archaeology at Oxford University and pioneered the study of antiquity in what is today western Turkey.

Ramsay was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest son of a third-generation lawyer, Thomas Ramsay and his wife Jane Mitchell. His father passed away when he was six years old, and the family moved from the city to the family home in the country district near Alba. The help of his older brother and maternal uncle, Andrew Mitchell, made it possible for him to have a superior education. He studied at the University of Aberdeen, where he achieved high distinction. He won a scholarship to St. John's College, Oxford, where he obtained a first class in classical moderations (1874) and in literae humaniores (1876). He also studied Sanskrit under scholar Theodor Benfey at Göttingen.

In 1880, Ramsay received an Oxford studentship for travel and research in Greece. At Smyrna, he met Sir C. W. Wilson, then British consul-general in Anatolia, who advised him on inland areas suitable for exploration. Ramsay and Wilson made two long journeys in 1881-1882. Greece and Turkey remained the focus of Ramsay's research for the remainder of his academic career. He was known for his expertise in the historic geography and topography of Asia Minor and of its political, social, cultural and religious history.

From 1885 to 1886, Ramsay held the newly created Lincoln and Merton professorship of classical archaeology and art at Oxford and became a fellow of Lincoln College. In 1886, Ramsay was appointed Regius Professor of Humanity at his alma mater, the University of Aberdeen. He remained affiliated with Aberdeen until his retirement in 1911. In 1906, Ramsay was knighted for his scholarly achievements on the four hundredth anniversary of the founding of the University of Aberdeen.

[edit] Publications

• Pictures of the Apostolic Church: Studies in the Book of Acts

• The Church of the Roman Empire Before AD 170

• The Cities and Bishoprics of Phyrgia: Being an Essay of the Local History of Phrygia from the Earliest Times to the Turkish Conquest Volume One, Part One

• The Cities and Bishoprics of Phyrgia: Being an Essay of the Local History of Phrygia from the Earliest Times to the Turkish Conquest Volume One, Part Two

• The Cities of St. Paul: Their Influence on His Life and Thought, The Cities of Eastern Asia Minor

• The First Christian Century: Notes on Dr. Moffatt’s Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament

• The Letters to the Seven Churches