George Grote

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George Grote
Portrait by Thomas Stewardson, 1824
Portrait by Thomas Stewardson, 1824
Born(1794-11-14)14 November 1794
Clay Hill, Kent
Died18 June 1871(1871-06-18) (aged 76)
Mayfair, London
NationalityEnglish
Signature

George Grote (/ɡroʊt/; 17 November 1794 – 18 June 1871) was an English political radical and classical historian. He is now best known for his major work, the voluminous History of Greece.

Early life

George Grote was born at

John Russell
RA painted portraits of Henry Peckwell and Bella Blosset.)

Educated at first by his mother, George Grote was sent to

Harriet Lewin (1792–1878), a writer and later the biographer of the artist Ary Scheffer. After various difficulties the marriage took place on 5 March 1820, and was a happy one.[4][2] His wife's nephew was the actor William Terriss, the father of Ellaline Terriss.[5] His brother was the moral philosopher John Grote
.

Work and writing

Title page of Vol. 2 of first edition, 1846.[6]

Meanwhile, Grote had finally decided his philosophic and political attitude. In 1817 he came under the influence of

Morning Chronicle a letter against George Canning's attack on Lord John Russell, and edited, or rather re-wrote, some discursive papers of Bentham, which he published under the title Analysis of the Influence of Natural Religion on the Temporal Happiness of Mankind by Philip Beauchamp (1822). The book was published in the name of Richard Carlile, then in gaol at Dorchester. Though not a member of John Stuart Mill's Utilitarian Society (1822–1823), he took a great interest in a society for reading and discussion, which met from 1823 onwards in a room at the bank before business hours, twice a week.[2]

Mrs Grote claimed to have first suggested the History of Greece in 1823; but the book was already in preparation in 1822. In April 1826 Grote published in

Chair of Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College London.[3]

He went abroad in 1830, and spent some months in Paris with the Liberal leaders. Recalled by his father's death (6 July), he became manager of the bank, and took a leading position among the City Radicals.[7] In 1831 he published his important Essentials of Parliamentary Reform (an elaboration of his previous "Statement"), and, after refusing to stand as parliamentary candidate for the City of London in 1831, changed his mind and was elected head of the poll, with three other Liberals, in December 1832. As an MP, Grote spent much of his time unsuccessfully advocating for the secret ballot.[8] After serving in three parliaments, he resigned in 1841, by which time his party ("the Philosophical Radicals") had dwindled away.[2]

Portrait of George Grote, by Maull & Fox

During these years of active public life, his interest in

de Tocqueville in Mrs Grote's reprint of the Seven Letters, 1876). Grote was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1853.[9]

In 1856, Grote began to prepare his works on Plato and Aristotle. Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates (3 vols.) appeared in 1865. That work made him known by some as "the greatest nineteenth-century Plato scholar".[10] The work on Aristotle he did not complete. He had finished the Organon and was about to deal with the metaphysical and physical treatises when he died at his home in Mayfair, London, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.[2] The house, No. 12 Savile Row, now has a commemorative brown plaque on it.[11]

He is said, in some estimations, to have been a man of strong character and self-control, unfailing courtesy and unswerving devotion to what he considered the best interests of the nation.

anti-clerical bias. Grote's time on the Council at University College London was characterised by his contentious approach to two liberal nonconformists: John Hoppus and James Martineau, both of whom found ways to work around his opposition. Grote's life has attracted a wide variety of biographical comment due to his strong views.[a]

Principal works

Recognition

The

Grote prize for outstanding research in Greek History, funded by a legacy from V. L. Ehrenberg and awarded annually by the Institute of Classical Studies at the University of London, is named after George Grote.[32]

Grote Street, a principal business strip in the city of Adelaide, South Australia was named for him.[33]

Notes

  1. ^ "George Grote", Quarterly Review, 135: 101, 1873
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Mitchell 1911, p. 619.
  3. ^ a b Robertson, George Croom (1890). "Grote, Arthur" . In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 23. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  4. ^ Grote, Harriet (1873), The Personal Life of George Grote, London: John Murray
  5. ^ "The Terriss Tragedy", New York Dramatic Mirror, 21 December 1897
  6. ^ a b Grote, George (1846). A History of Greece: I. Legendary Greece II. Grecian History to the Reign of Peisistratus at Athens. Vol. II. London: John Murray. Retrieved 14 October 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ Kinzer, Bruce (2004), "George Grote, the Philosophical Radical and Politician", Brill's Companion to George Grote and the Classical Tradition, London: Brill, pp. 16–45
  8. ^ Kinzer, Bruce (2004), "George Grote, the Philosophical Radical and Politician", Brill's Companion to George Grote and the Classical Tradition, London: Brill, pp. 16–45, esp. 37-44
  9. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter G" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  10. ^ Schofield, M. (1998–2002), "Plato", in Craig, E (ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge
  11. ^ George Grote Plaque, English Heritage, retrieved 24 November 2013
  12. ISBN 9780598828064
  13. ^ Grote, George (1831), Essentials of parliamentary reform, London: Baldwin and Gradock
  14. ISBN 978-1-108-00951-5
  15. ^ "Review of A History of Greece by George Grote, Vols. I and II". The Athenæum: 309–11. 28 March 1846.
  16. ^ "Review of A History of Greece: 1. Legendary Greece; 2. Grecian History to the Reign of Peisistratus at Athens by George Grote". The Quarterly Review. 78: 113–144. June 1846.
  17. ^ "Review of History of Greece by George Grote, Vols. III and IV". The Athenæum: 509–10. 15 May 1847.
  18. ^ "Review of History of Greece, Vols. III–VIII by George Grote". The Quarterly Review. 86: 384–415. March 1850.
  19. ^ "Review of History of Greece by George Grote, Vols. V and VI". The Athenæum: 136–37. 10 February 1849.
  20. ^ "Review of History of Greece by George Grote, Vols. VII and VIII". The Athenæum: 279–81. 16 March 1850.
  21. ^ "Review of History of Greece by George Grote, vols. vii & viii". The Quarterly Review. 88: 41–68. December 1850.
  22. ^ "Review of History of Greece by George Grote, Vol. XI". The Athenæum: 673–74. 4 June 1853.
  23. ^ "Review: History of Greece by George Grote, Vol. XII". The Athenæum: 295–96. 8 March 1856.
  24. ^ "Review of A History of Greece by George Grote, 12 vols". The Quarterly Review. 99: 60–105. June 1856.
  25. ^ Grote, George (1876), Seven letters concerning the politics of Switzerland, pending the outbreak of the civil war in 1847, London: John Murry
  26. ^ Grote, George (7 August 2012) [1885], Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates, vol. 1 (4 volumes, 3rd ed.), Project Gutenberg
  27. ^ George, Grote (1868), Review of the work of Mr. John Stuart Mill, entitled, 'Examination of Sir William Hamilton's philosophy'
  28. ^ Aristotle (ed. by Alexander Bain and George Croom Robertson), volumes 1 and 2
  29. ^ Bywater, I. (15 November 1872). "Review of Aristotle by George Grote, edited by Alexander Bain and G. Croom Robertson". The Academy. 3: 431–33.
  30. ^ Grote, George; Bain, Alexander (1873), The minor works of George Grote. With critical remarks on his intellectual character, writings and speeches, London: J. Murray
  31. ^ Grote, George (1876), Fragments on ethical subjects, a selection from his posthumous papers, London: J. Murray
  32. ^ George Grote Prize in Ancient History, retrieved 13 March 2018
  33. ^ "The Founding of South Australia", The Advertiser, Adelaide: National Library of Australia, p. 11, 28 December 1928, retrieved 3 June 2015
  1. ^ Charles Darwin remembered that he was pleased by the simplicity and absence of all pretension (Grote's manners cited in Barlow, Nora, ed. (1958), The Autobiography of Charles Darwin 1809–1882, London: Collins, p. 111)

References

  • "Grote, George." British Authors of the Nineteenth Century. H.C. Wilson Company, New York, 1936.

Attribution:

Further reading

External links

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George Grote
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
George Lyall Mar 1833–1835
William Crawford Aug 1833–1841
James Pattison
1835–41 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by
Sir John Shaw-Lefevre
Vice-Chancellor of University of London

1862–1871 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
New position
 President of the Royal Historical Society
1871 		Succeeded by
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