Mitford, Terence Bruce (1905-1978)

Terence Bruce Mitford FBA FSA (sometimes known as Terence Bruce-Mitford) (11 May 1905 – 8 November 1978) was a Scottish archaeologist and classicist. He spent his whole career at the University of St Andrews, and had a special interest in the history and archaeology of Cyprus and southern Turkey, making many expeditions to these areas. His academic life was interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served with the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service.

Mitford was born in Yokohama, Japan.^[1] His father was Charles Eustace Bruce Mitford, and Mitford's name was sometimes given as "Bruce-Mitford".^[2][3] A brother was Rupert Bruce-Mitford. Mitford was educated at Dulwich College before reading Literae Humaniores at Jesus College, Oxford – his rugby-playing interfered with his studies, and he did not obtain as high a class of degree as hoped. He spent his entire career at the University of St Andrews, teaching Latin text and prose composition, but his main interest was archaeology, in which he involved residents of St Andrews as well as students.^[2] He spent time in the 1930s on excavations in Cyprus – his main archaeological interest throughout his career was the exploration of the inscriptions on Cyprus. His obituary, in The Times, said that Mitford "contributed more than anyone has ever done to our knowledge of the mass of documentation which exists in the Cypriot dialect and the Cypriot syllabic script."^[2] He also worked on the history of Cyprus, looking at the island in Ptolemaic and early Roman times.^[2]