David Daiches

David Daiches
Born2 September 1912
Sunderland, England
Died15 July 2005(2005-07-15) (aged 92)
Edinburgh, Scotland
OccupationsLiterary critic, scholar,
Writing career
Period1935–1994
SubjectsEnglish and Scottish literature and culture

David Daiches CBE (2 September 1912 – 15 July 2005) was a Scottish literary historian and literary critic, scholar and writer. He wrote extensively on English literature, Scottish literature and Scottish culture.

Early life

He was born in Sunderland, to Jewish-Lithuanian émigrés —the subject of his 1956 memoir, Two Worlds: An Edinburgh Jewish Childhood. He moved to Edinburgh while still a young child, about the end of the First World War, where his father Reverend Dr. Salis Daiches was an Orthodox rabbi and founder of the city's branch of B'nai Brith.

He studied at George Watson's College and won a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh where he won the Elliot prize. He went to Oxford where he became the Elton exhibitioner, and was elected Fellow of Balliol College in 1936.

Daiches is the father of Jenni Calder, also a Scottish literary historian. His brother was the prominent Edinburgh Lionel Henry Daiches QC. Although Lionel retained the older, traditional pronunciation of their surname as 'dyke-iz' /ˈdaɪ χ (or k) ɪz/, David returned from the US with the Americanized 'day-ches', /ˈdeɪ tʃɪz/. He also had a sister, Sylvia Daiches.

Career

During the Second World War, he worked for the British Embassy in Washington, DC, producing pamphlets for the British Information Services and drafting (and delivering) speeches on British institutions and foreign policy.

Daiches' first published work was The Place of Meaning in Poetry, published in 1935. He was a prolific writer, producing works on English literature, Scottish literature, literary history and criticism as well as the broader role of literature in society and culture. His The Novel and the Modern World (1939) was well received, and his expertise on the modern period led to his co-editing The Norton Anthology of English Literature (1962). He edited the Studies in English Literature series. His other works include:

Starting at the University of Edinburgh, he had a long and influential career teaching in the UK, the US and Canada. He taught or held visiting posts at Balliol College, the University of Chicago, Cornell University, Jesus College, Cambridge, Indiana University, the University of Minnesota, McMaster University in Canada, Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and the University of California; besides setting up the English Department at the newly founded University of Sussex. From 1979 to 1984 he was President of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies and from 1980 to 1986 he was Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at Edinburgh University. Daiches chaired the panel of judges for the Booker Prize in 1980 and was president of the Saltire Society from 1982 to 1986. He was appointed CBE in the 1991 Birthday Honours.

He received the Quantrell Award.

List of published works

References

  1. ↑ Daiches, David (December 1950). The Gentleman and the Jew, by Maurice Samuel Commentary. Retrieved on 28 December 2025.
  2. ↑ Zia-ur-Rehman Khan, Intermediate Simple English grammar & composition (Federal Board, Part II) (2012). End of Term. Lahore: Simple Publishing.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Studies in English Literature (Edward Arnold) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  4. ↑ Baker, William; Lister, Michael, eds. (2007). David Daiches: a Celebration of His Life and Work. Eastbourne, UK: Sussex Academic Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-84519-159-7.
  5. ↑ "1982–1986". saltiresociety.org.uk. 2014. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching". UChicago.