Profile: Philip Grierson Perry Hastings s, Profile – Philip Grierson 25 son on shoulder s ’ ier 1913 c. FAR LEFT in Philip Grierson the Fitzwilliam Coin Room 2004 LEFT Philip Gr his father the University’s d de war become a doctor. In 1929 he was become he a doctor. In 1929 o t was a d and st esolve At bywas fascinated school Philip Grierson science, and he r accepted byaccepted medicine, but read Caius to as soon as He took history. he came up he changed to a double fir and 5- or vey Lord Stewartby Lord was sent to en he t ta Ellen Jane (187 f er een a land sur ed to the boards of the boards several ed to e, Rob oint if w arents as ‘deeplyarents and rather om the age o r his p the Irish Landthe Irish Commission, a post that was app 0. F f d o e ib Bray in 1914. er ough College, where he was verywas he where ough College, homesick. testant family that times had fallen on hard o ely and he and his two – an sisters religious’, at or brother had died in infancy neverwere – taken r son (1859-1952), had b er lb ier esult, he and his small family farm and it that was here Philip memb r perhaps ofperhaps any time.” a he lost with the change of GovernmentAs in 1906. a as a result of depressions 1875-84 of the agricultural and other Philip Henry His father, circumstances. Gr Philip Grierson was born in Dublin, and brought Philip Grierson up in a P Philip Grierson, medieval historian and , benefactor and numismatist, medieval historian Philip Grierson, Fitzwilliam and the Museum’s Honorary Keeper of 1949, died Coins since 15 January on 2006, aged 95. sixty than In more of avid years Professor collecting, the most formed Grierson representative that ofcollection the coinage of medieval Continental Europe which he has bequeathed the exists, to A Museum. bachelor a resident don, he remained & Caius of – for his college – Gonville yet years, 76 simultaneouslyWashington posts holding in Brussels and was acclaimed internationally, he with those He has world. the academies and learned societies around from accolades and receiving in foremostbeen called ‘the medieval numismatist of our or time, indeed of perhaps any His life time’. – of stabilitywas one of contrasts of frugality and energy, of and frivolity. erudition generosity, and Profile: Philip Grierson (1910-2006) Grierson Philip Profile: foremost“. . . the medieval numismatist of our or time, indeed 1970), moved to Clondalkin, near Clondalkin, moved to 1970), manage Dublin, to a spentGrierson the first of His father, years his life. for a reputation then in his 50s, acquired financial acumen, and companies, him in a new career establishing which the the farm and move to leave enabled them to coast elder alcohol abstain from to and agreed the theatre to theyuntil Although he later 21. were the rejected verywas and faith, he admired Christian of his fond visited them regularlyparents, and his mother’s until death in 197 He descr aust boarding school, first locally and then to in Bray, Mar 26 Profile – Philip Grierson

Ramsey & Muspratt lasto pride in hishealthandfitness, and, always took t he walked Hadrian’s thelengthof Wall, returning in C home,arriving to inLondon,hedecided walk play and ononeo enjoyed walking He greatly posed. such ajourney day. Herelished thechallenge thenext party family to Dublinandattend a Holyhead, to catch theferry Train to upthePost where hecouldpick Rugby at to drop him himfrom Cambridge airport could fly 1935, heleft hisadmissionasaFellowof inOctober Caius of to drive. Ontheevening learnt henever curiously o inhisthird Caius year offered aFellowshipbeen at having onCarolingian history, but research student asa the Schuldham Plate. In1932hebegan work scholarship andtheCollege’s top prize, Lightfoot Philip Gr fly newtechnology. Heenjoyed fiction, andalsofor lif his inscience subsisted throughout interest His early aPhD. for to submit unnecessary it thought o f ,adltrmnfse tefi at o science manifested itselfinataste for e, andlater ing, andtr r Cambridge riding pilliononamotorbike. He esear ambr h swstecso tta time, he that ch, as was thecustom at ier dea uctm h etday. In1934 lunchtime thenext idge at son asa aine high tablepr c casion in1932or d as apilo young Fellow Caius of mtys htafriend sothat omptly nhsery20s,though inhisearly t ’33, aft er seeing a p inforeign affairs, andinRussia in interest deal of 19 unp himselfasa‘rather described Philip Grierson later the mountainso was inF year eyes’. The following to our more pleasant makes it milk thepure lessof far have imbibed Russia generally hereflects ‘the Ukraine andSouth to hismother written home ships,planesandtrains.of Inaletter usingacombination Greece andItaly via back way Istanbul,andthen their wended ashipfor boarded south andheaded to Odessa, where they the party Rostov, left Gorky, Stalingrad andKiev. There they Intourist, Leningrad,visiting Moscow, organised by Russia of atour joined and afriend from Trinity o Central Europe andtheBalkans. Inthelong vacation t inherited from hisfather, who in taste heprobably H eightieth birthday. until his the with young, continuing to play contact in andstaying keeping both of fit squash asa way played sportsman, anavid heregularly although not ai o a well-received bibliography, for basis books onthesubject, asthe which in1943heused Russia himto led collect of Versailles. The trip to Soviet which it 1933, hear in who hadcometo Cambridge asaPhDstudent aGermanJew asagroup. Daube, David together Mah-Jongg – would play the British Academy and PhilipGrierson, allof Fellowswhom became of Daub dar Si descr aptly characterised hisapproach to life, andthismight he scepticism’ was the way ‘benevolent until 1950. But e12shdtaeldaltinEurope, including he 1920s hadtravelled alot Russia, 1917-1942 Russia, f ar x e 20s and’30samongst 92 utatrhehadgraduated, PhilipGrierson after just 1932, t ing year was adventurous, foreign andloved travel –a icular olit he explor ibe his view of politics andtheestablishment. politics his ibe of view of communismthanNorthernof Russia, which ,GyGriffith, MichaelOakeshott, ParkerAlec e, Guy ical p venture. Five young Fellows –David Caius of s inland andin1937he a ethdbe asl treated inthe Treaty harshly hadbeen was felt , aft as d rhsRsinti,h eto a more onafar hisRussian trip, he went er er news that well assomes son e d f , ,tog eamte htinthe ’, thoughheadmitted that the Rhinelandonf f central Norway. ollowe his father udents thereagreat had been d ymp b y annual supplements ath walk and father-in-la o Germany for y e Books on Soviet on Books d o o on glaciers in t, in1936he w , Profile – Philip Grierson 27 the field o his collection er lat reputation as a medieval reputation year he wishedhe buy to a few a built some 3,500. He had come t eady d e er awash with coins from the late Lord Grantley’s with Lord the late coins from awash s, and said that e had alr dieval coins and a ought it back and sought Cambridge, to out Byzantine coin thatbronze him. He intrigued He, therefore, remained in Cambridge as one of as one in Cambridge remained a He, therefore, of team the Historyreduced dons teaching Tripos. He historian, and ithistorian, event was a chance that his kindled interest 1944 While spending Christmas in coinage. with desk in his father’s his parents, he came across a br Seltman atCharles who identified Queens’ College, it of the Byzantine as a follis emperor Phocas (602- 10), and said that readilywere such coins in available ALondon. week orvisited Philip Grierson two later, Spink medieval coins to show to his students and would and his students to show medieval coins to spend £5, but up to was ‘not he a collector and had weeks two However, ofno intention becoming one’. laterwas back he for – the bug had bitten. more By the end of 1945 he had bought over 1,500 me numb atwhen the London dealers time, an unprecedented wer collection, sold in eleven auctions during the War. the during auctions sold in eleven collection, laywas able to this he From down the foundations visa on er 1938. otiate on their otiate Novemb 1 neg o t over amp on 1 obtaining a German o , g ankfurt his on the 18th.During o r t F ion C d o apidly e at r d eer entr and they had been in imprisoned eakWar of enlist, to tried Philip Grierson ed to geted to and Philip Grierson, them out, br old age. Daube subsequently became Regius t volunt and a childhood injury He also his feet. to o want He move . e int thorn, he flew t d the ou ehalf ick ve Dachau Conc Daub Jakob Daube and Hugo Aufseesser, had both been Aufseesser, Daube and Hugo Jakob among the 30,000 Jewish up after rounded men Kristallnacht the only other memberwho spoke of the group German, few days there, he travelled to Freiburg (Daube’s home (Daube’s Freiburg to he travelled days there, few familywere there Basel (where town), and friends) and close lived Aufseessers the (where Munich perhaps were men The on 23 November. Dachau), returning to and Dachau on 20 and 26 November, from released left with their they where in England wives arrive to li b with entry and armed British November, 14 permits for the families, expedited by the University’s MP Kenneth P Professor of Civil Law in Oxford. At but down becausewas turned of his his chagrin to eyesight failed an interviewwork to at Bletchley Park on the thatgrounds was not his German scratch! up to Medieval coins from the Grierson collection the Grierson Medieval coins from 28 Profile – Philip Grierson most Keeper, theMuseum’s andoneof Honorary serving tr,adi utafew years an hehadbecome storm, andinjust Philip Gr staff.Coin Room andadvice hegave to the thesupport alsofor but gener f only PhilipGrierson, who was still that inorder the post since resigned 1922, Coinsintermittently of Keeper Grierson papers in the andGonvilleGrierson College &Caius intheFitzwilliam papers Archives. ‘Some memories: Interview with PhilipGrierson’, with memories: Interview ‘Some S and in1949Sy theFitzwilliam, He alsoimpressed colleaguesat vacations inBrussels. the Christmas andEaster he manage 33 years coincide,andfor and Brusselsterms didnot theCambridge research andpublication. Fortunately of prompted himto make thishismainsubject that inNumismatics Chair vacant their for to apply 1947 wasaninvitation from Brusselsin it theatre. But coins he aroundwould pass thecrowded lecture thetrays of theselectures for students remember British Islesexcepted –from 284to 1492. Former –the some64lecturesof covering ‘European’ history s have done’. Initially, hesaw hiscoinsas might i as coins,either asmuchuseof general madenearly H more than20,000coins. number would years, and which eventually sixty the next over onanddeveloped coinage, which hethenbuilt asystematic Continental collectionmedieval of for Grierson (1910-)', llustrative matter or as first-hand evidence, asthey asfirst-hand evidence, or llustrative matter or upplementing hisundergraduate teaching, acourse our e fe 56 years PhilipGrierson thelongest became after elsdta mdea itrashdntin ‘medieval historians hadnot realised that c 38, might ous lifetime gifts and munificent bequest, bequest, ous lifetime gifts andmunificent ou es tstanding b ierson hadtaken medieval by d i ecigla ysedn atof part spending his teaching loadby dney suc Numismatic Circular Numismatic c enefact ee Grose, theMuseum’s Honorary d i.I wasasounddecision, him. It or s, no t only 99 (1991), pp. 223-4, 259-60, 291-2, 335-6;100(1992), pp. 3-4, 43. 99 (1991),pp.223-4,259-60,291-2, o his for The Caian The lo and st fr and respect applause from theundergraduates. Their arousing with wasmet that dinner gave at aspeech ninet students, onhis with popular onSundays’.and two Ever day, cinemaevery ableto be go Caius towill a different He hadlongar came to andDVDs. watch his2,000 videos someof act hisroom themost was oneof natural informal way to hisgramophone records andread hisbooks: ina hisrooms to1940s ‘We readvisited essaysandto listen inthe Brooke recalled that Christopher Professor humour. amischievoussenseof andenjoyed sociable intimidating,could be PhilipGrierson was innately times Despite hiserudition andintellect, which at members. confers onitsresident rarely it doctorate, adistinction and awarded himanHonorary a Cambridge hehadachieved. say he couldproudly role in1997 thetime herelinquished that which by task coinsandpublishit. Byzantine A collection of Washington. Hisbrief was to buildthe world’s finest research in Byzantine Harvard’s institute for , thecoinsat for curator ‘adviser’ or in Europe and thehonoraryAmerica, andto become inthefield.Invitations in,to poured lecture authority the British Numismatic Society Numismat in Reader University CoinsandMedals, of Keeper Blackburn Mark ppointed him Reader, later Professor of Numismatics, of Professor himReader,ppointed later iend udent cal newsp 98 p 35.' numismatic career: Philip 1978, pp.33-55.'A v oilcnrso h olg. ae generations ive centres theCollege.’Later social of when an eighth cinema opened inCambridge the when aneighthcinemaopened y-fifth birthday, monthsbefore hisdeath,he two ship he he ics andMonetar was S ap valued most of all. of most valued er could r ceayo h nvriyFilm Society, theUniversity of ecretary epu ep tat or ion f y t: ‘NowMr Hist or b or eing afilmbuff y , n rsdn of and President Gr ier son of . As a