Basil Willey, (25 July 1897 – 3 September 1978) was British scholar of English literature and intellectual history. Having served in the British Army during the First World War, he rose to become King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge from 1946 and President of Pembroke College from 1958 to until his retirement in 1964.

Biography

He was born in London in 1897 and educated at University College School, Hampstead, and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he won a scholarship in 1915; conscripted into the West Yorkshire Regiment soon after, he eventually graduated in 1921 with a first-class degree in History and English. He became a fellow of Pembroke College in 1935. He was appointed King Edward VII Professor of English Literature in 1946. He served as President of Pembroke College from 1958 to 1964. He retired from his position as King Edward VII Professor of English Literature in 1965. He was a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL). He was a member of the Athenaeum Club in London.

Published works

Additional bibliography

Footnotes