Highet, Gilbert

Highet, Gilbert (1906–78) classicist; born in Glasgow, Scotland. He taught at Oxford (1932–37), where he took a double first (1932), before going to Columbia University (1937), where he was an exceptionally popular teacher until his retirement (1972). Books such as The Classical Tradition (1949) and The Art of Teaching (1950), as well as his posts as chief literary critic for Harper's Magazine (1952–54), judge of the Book-of-the-Month Club (1954–78), and host of weekly radio talks, People, Places, and Books (1952–59), made him the country's most widely known popularizer of classics. His bibliography of 1,000 items includes his translation of Werner Jaeger's Paideia from German into English. He was married to the novelist Helen MacInnes.