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Obituaries

SOAS is very saddened to report the deaths of our alumni and staff included in the directory below.

Please contact us if you wish to send us any obituary information to be included in our alumni publications or added to this webpage.

Search Notes
Use the options below to find all alumni who we have been notified are deceased. Search options allow you to narrow your results.
List has 90 notes on 9 pages << < 1 2 3 4 5 > >>
Obituary Isaac A Akinjogbin 10/08/2010  
Professor Isaac Adeagbo Akinjobbin (12 January 1930 - 27 July 2008)
(PhD History 1968)
Nigerian acadmic, poet, cultural commentator, literary critic and scholar. One of Africa's leading historians.
Obituary Peter Avery 10/08/2010  
Peter William Avery (15 May 1923 - 6 October 2008)
(BA Persian 1949)

Peter Avery was born in Derby in the years shortly after the First World War. He as studying at the University of Liverpool when the Second World War broke out, and he volunteered to serve. This was to spark an interest in Persian language which would later stand him in good stead - indeed Persian language and knowledge of Modern Iranian history were to form the basis of his future career. After the War Avery returned to England and decided to continue his education in one of only a few institutions which could match his new found passion for Persian - the School of Oriental and African Studies. After graduating in 1949 Avery returned to the Middle East, working first in Iran before political tensions forced him to leave for Iraq - although he was to return in 1955. Shortly thereafter he returned to England and took up a post at Oxford University.

For a full obituary please refer to either; http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4950966.ece or http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/oct/18/history-iran-peter-avery.
Obituary Alexander W Dick 10/08/2010  
Rev. Alexander Walter Henry Dick (22 July 1941 -- December 2009)
(BA Swahili 1957)
Obituary Simon E Digby 10/08/2010  
Simon Everard Digby (17 October 1932 - 10 January 2010)
(PhD History, 1971)

Simon Everard Digby was born in Jabalpur, India. He was educated in the UK, and proved to be an excellent scholar - he was 2nd Scholar at Stowe School, and then at Trinity College where he achieved first-class honours, with distinction, in 1954.

View the full obituary online at
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7003455.ece
Obituary Anthony L Dunn 10/08/2010  
Anthony Lawrence Dunn (5 September 1944 - 20 February 2010)
(BA Arabic 1964)
Pic-Right: http://www.soasalumni.org/Document.Doc?id=163
SOAS would like to offer its condolences to the family and friends of Anthony "Tony" Dunn. Tony passed away on the 20th February. His funeral was well attended, attesting the significant role he played in his local area, where he served as District Councillor, and as Deputy Mayor. Although a stubborn man, he was also capable of seeing the other side in an argument and could be swayed by good rhetoric.
Obituary Antony G Flew 10/08/2010  
Antony G Flew (BA Japanese 1944)
Pic-Right: http://www.soasalumni.org/Document.Doc?id=169
Flew always described himself as a "negative atheist", asserting that "theological propositions can neither be verified nor falsified by experience", a position he expounded in his classic paper Theology and Falsification (1950), reputedly the most frequently-quoted philosophical publication of the second half of the 20th century.

View the full obituary online at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/7586929/Professor-Antony-Flew.html.
Obituary Fred Halliday 10/08/2010  
Fred Halliday (MSc Politics 1969)
Pic-Right: http://www.soasalumni.org/Document.Doc?id=173
Fred Halliday, who has died of cancer aged 64, was an Irish academic whose main interest was the Middle East and its place in international politics. His first major book, Arabia Without Sultans, was published in 1974. The culmination of adventurous field research in the region, including Oman, it was a study of Arabian regimes, their support from the west and Iran, and the revolutionary forces fighting against them. "The Arab Middle East is the one with the longest history of contact with the west; yet it is probably the one least understood," Fred believed. "Part of the misunderstanding is due to the romantic mythology that has long appeared to shroud the deserts of the peninsula. Where old myths have broken down, new ones have absorbed them or taken their place."

View the full obituary online at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/apr/26/fred-halliday-obituary
Obituary Hugh Hickling 10/08/2010  
Professor (Reginald) Hugh Hickling CMG QC (2 August 1920 - 11 February 2007)

Lecturer in South East Asian law at SOAS, where he was awarded his PhD in Law
Colonial lawyer who assisted in the drafting of the Malayan, now Malaysian, constitution for that country's independence from Britain in 1957.

Full obituary here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1548788/Professor-Hugh-Hickling.html
Obituary Ezzeddin Ibrahim 10/08/2010  
Dr Ezzeddin Ibrahim Mustafa (1928 - 30 January 2010)
(MA Arabic 1960 & PhD Linguistics 1963)

Born in Egypt Dr Ezzeddin Ibrahim Mustafa joined the Muslim Brotherhood Movement soon after graduating from the universities of Cairo and Ein Shams. He was close to the leader of the 1952 Egyptian revolution, Imam Hasan al-Banna. However soon after the revolution, he was forced to flee the country in response to harassment by the military junta. Dr Ibrahim returned to Egypt in 1954 after a political settlement was reached between the junta and the MBM.

This started a regular habit of travel, as Dr Ibrahim moved around the Middle East, from Egypt to Syria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and lastly to the United Arab Emirates. With an interest in education he left a lasting impression wherever he lived; devising a series of study programmes and compiled a number of textbooks for the Ministry of Education in Qatar, he held the eminent post of professor of Arabic literature at Riyadh University, and also serving as the vice chancellor of the UAE University in Al Ain for four years.

Widely acknowledge as a prominent spokesperson for Islam, and the links between the three monotheistic religions, Dr Ibrahim was bent on improving relations between the faithful around the world. He attacked misconception and stereotyping to improve the popular image of his faith.

Dr Ibrahim died in London en route to Abu Dhabi, after having undergone treatment from cancer in the United States.

He is survived by his wife and three children.
Obituary Simon W Johnstone 10/08/2010  
Simon W. Johnstone (03 February 1949 - 17 October 2009)
(BA Tibetan Language 1976)

Mr. Johnstone, 60, passed away on the 17th October 2009 after a brief battle with cancer.

His retirement this August marked the end of a varied and impressive career in Journalism spanning over 20 years. Previous positions included Sub-Editor at the New China News Agency (Xinhua), Chief Translator at The Foreign Languages Press (Beijing) and Senior Editor at The Nation (Thailand) where he worked from 1989 up until his retirement this year.

View the Full Obituary Online at http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/10/21/opinion/opinion_30114873.php


List has 90 notes on 9 pages << < 1 2 3 4 5 > >>