Gardner, Dame Helen Louise (1908-1986), literary scholar

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Gardner, Dame Helen Louise (1908-1986), literary scholar

13 February 1908 - 4 June 1986

1926 she went to St Hilda's College, Oxford, and in 1929 obtained First Class Honours in English language and literature.

1929 -1931 accepted a temporary post at the University of Birmingham.
1931-1934 worked as an assistant lecturer at the Royal Holloway College, London before returning to Birmingham where she joined the English department (1934–41).

In 1941 she returned to Oxford to become a tutor (1941–54), and later Fellow (1942–66), at her old college.

In 1954 she was made reader in Renaissance studies and after one set-back was elected in 1966 Merton professor of English language and literature, with a fellowship at Lady Margaret Hall. The distinction of being the first woman to hold this chair gave her special satisfaction. She exerted herself as a supervisor and was as successful as she was strict.

To her Oxford DLitt (1963) and Cambridge honorary LittD (1981) she added honorary degrees from eight other universities.
She was appointed CBE in 1962 and a DBE in 1967.
She was made a Fellow of the British Academy in 1958, twice won the Crawshay prize (1952 and 1980), and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.

In person Helen Gardner was small and sturdy. Vivacious, temperamental, and occasionally overbearing, she appreciated good food and drink, liked to dress well, and revelled in parties where she talked well but, as she herself knew, too much. She was kinder in her actions than in her wit.

She retired in 1975 and died, unmarried, on 4 June 1986 in a nursing home at Bicester, Oxfordshire.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography