Lorimer, William Laughton, 1885-1967

William Laughton Lorimer (1885-1967) was born on 27 June 1885, a son of the Free Church manse of Mains and Strathmartine. He was educated at Dundee High School, Fettes College as a Foundation Scholar and as a Scholar at Trinity College, Oxford. He arrived in St Andrews as Assistant to Professor John Burnet in 1910 and acted as Lecturer in Greek, 1910-29. He was Reader in Latin at University College, Dundee, 1929-53 and pursued teaching and research until he was rewarded by his election as Professor of Greek at St Andrews University in 1953, a post which he held until his retirement in 1955. In 1953 he also became a Fellow of the British Academy.

He was a convinced Protestant and a fervent Scot and the favourite project of his last years was the translation of the New Testament into Scots. He was active in his support for the University Library and was chairman and contributor to The Scottish National Dictionary and a member of the Council of the Scottish History Society. He published, notably, Aristotelis qui fertur Libellus de Mundo (Paris, 1933) and Aristoteles Latinus xii.2 De Mundo (Rome, 1951).

Source: Alumnus Chronicle 59, (1968), pp. 4-5; Who's Who, 1954.

From the guide to the Papers of William Laughton Lorimer, 1887-1960, (University of St Andrews)