George Alfred Kolkhorst
George Alfred Magee ('Colonel') Kolkhorst (1897–1958) was an Oxford don, first a lecturer and then Reader in Spanish.[1]
Life
Kolkhorst was the son of an engineer, and was brought up in Chile. His family then moved to Portugal. In the later part of World War I he was in Galicia, Spain on official work.[2]
A member of Exeter College, Oxford, he was the first to receive the De Osma Studentship and was able to study in Madrid at the Instituto Valencia of Don Juan.[3] On his return, he was appointed University Lecturer in Spanish in 1921 and Reader in Spanish in 1931, holding office until his death in 1958. He used to wear a cube of sugar on a string around his neck "to sweeten my conversation", and was universally known among Oxford undergraduates as "Colonel" Kolkhorst — allegedly because he looked and behaved so utterly unlike a colonel.[4] His home was at Yarnton Manor and he held salons in Beaumont Street.[5]
His friendship with John Betjeman led to his inclusion in Summoned by Bells, Betjeman's verse autobiography. A poem about Kolkhorst's death is included in Betjeman's posthumous collection Harvest Bells (pp. 99–101).
References
- Noel Annan, The Dons: Mentors, Eccentrics and Geniuses (London: HarperCollins, 1999), p. 138.
Notes
- ^ Magee (his mother's maiden name); Betjeman, John (2019) Harvest Bells, pp. 186-87
- ^ "P. E. Russell, George Alfred Kolkhorst, 1897–1958". Bulletin of Hispanic Studies. 36: 51–52. doi:10.1080/1475382592000336051.
- ^ Pérez de Arcos, Marina (3 May 2020). "Individual, Institution, and Impact: The Untold History of the de Osma Studentship in Spanish Studies at Oxford". Hispanic Research Journal. 21 (3). Informa UK Limited: 276–320. doi:10.1080/14682737.2020.1874721. ISSN 1468-2737.
- ^ John Betjeman: Summoned by Bells, p. 84 says: "We called you 'Colonel' just because you were,/Though tall, so little like one."
- ^ Betjeman, John (2019) Harvest Bells, pp. 186-87
External links
- Kolkhorst and Arteaga Exhibitions in Spanish 2005–6 Archived 31 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Oxford University Gazette (17 November 2005)
- Judith Priestman, 'The dilettante and the dons', Oxford Today vol. 18, no. 3 (Trinity 2006)
- Charles Saumarez Smith, 'Always from the heart', The Observer (Sunday August 6, 2006)
- Tournai Tapestry, Maritime Museum, Portugal
- 'Yarnton: Manor and other estates', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 12: Wootton Hundred (South) including Woodstock (1990), pp. 475–478
- Brooke Allen, 'Betjeman: a "whim of iron"', The New Criterion, vol. 23, no. 7 (March 2005) Archived 9 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- R. M. Healey, 'Best Of British', Rare Book Review