Robert Browning was a Scottish Byzantinist

Byzantine studies

Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, costumes, religion, art, such as literature and music, science, economy, and politics of the Byzantine Empire. The discipline's founder in Germany is considered to be the philologist Hieronymus...

 and university professor.

Early career

Browning was born in Glasgow in 1914. He attended Kelvinside Academy

Kelvinside Academy

Kelvinside Academy is a private school in the City of Glasgow, Scotland, founded in 1878. It has a capacity of 640 pupils and spans two years of Junior Start , six years of Junior School , and seven years of Senior School , comprising fifteen years in all...

 in that city. He entered the Humanities department of Glasgow University in 1931, graduating in 1935. As Snell Exhibitioner at Balliol College Oxford he acquired first class degrees in Mods and Greats as well as several prizes (Nowlands, Ireland, Craven, Ferguson, De Paravicini, and Jenkyns). During his time at Glasgow University Browning became proficient in several Eastern European languages, beginning with Albanian

Albanian language

Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

.

In 1939 Browning received a second degree from GU, and began a seven year service with the Royal Artillery. During that time he mastered the Georgian language

Georgian language

Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...

. He served on the General Staff in Italy, and on the Allied Control Commission in Sofia, Bulgaria. In Belgrade, Yugoslavia he was assistant to the British Military Attaché.

Lecturing career, honours, and retirement activities

In 1946 Browning returned to the academic milieu, first as a Harmsworth Senior Scholar at Merton College, Oxford, and then moved to London University. From 1947 to 1965 he taught in University College, London and from 1965 to his retirement (1981) he was Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...

.

Following his retirement from the professorship Browning served in an advisory capacity at Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks is the conventional name for the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, situated on a historic property in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The institution is administered by the Trustees for Harvard University. Its founders, Robert Woods Bliss and his wife...

. He advised the University of Cyprus

University of Cyprus

The University of Cyprus is a public coeducational university established by the Republic of Cyprus in 1989. It admitted its first students in 1992 and has currently approximately 6000 students .-History:...

. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Birmingham

University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...

, and once received the Key to the City at Athens.

In 1969 Browning authored an influential handbook, Medieval and Modern Greek. He served as chair to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies and the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies. He was review editor of the Journal of Hellenic Studies, and editor of the bibliography of the Byzantinische Zeitschrift magazine. He was vice-president of the International Byzantine Association from 1981. His two 1971 studies (Justinian and Theodora) were widely recognized.

Browning's first festschrift

Festschrift

In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...

, aptly titled Maistor was published on Australian initiative at Canberra, Australia in 1984. A second (Philellen) was published on Greek initiative in Venice, Italy in 1997.

Browning's résumé listed:

• Lecturer, University College London (1947–1955)
• Reader, University College London (1955–1965)
• Professor of Classics and Ancient History, Birkbeck College, London (1965–1981)(emeritus)
• Fellow of the British Academy 1978

Personal life

In 1946 he married Galina Chichekova, whom he had met in Sofia. They had two daughters. In 1972 he married Ruth Gresh, whom he had met in Cairo, Egypt. He died of old age in London in 1997.