Mary Lefkowitz
Encyclopedia
Mary R. Lefkowitz is an American classical scholar and Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at Wellesley College. She is best known to non-Classicists for her anti-Afrocentrism
book, Not Out of Africa (1996). She is the widow of Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones
.
from Radcliffe College
(now part of Harvard University
) in 1961. She returned to Wellesley College in 1959 as an instructor in Greek. In 1979 she was named Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, a position she held until her retirement in 2005. Lefkowitz holds an honorary degree from Trinity College (1996), which cited her “deep concern for intellectual integrity,” and also from the University of Patras
(1999) and from Grinnell College
(2000). In 2004 she received a Radcliffe Graduate Society Medal. In 2006 she was awarded a National Humanities Medal
“for outstanding excellence in scholarship and teaching.” In 2008 she was the recipient of a Wellesley College Alumnae Achievement Award.
Lefkowitz has published on subjects including mythology, women in antiquity, Pindar
, and fiction in ancient biography. She came to the attention of a wider audience through her criticism of the claims of Martin Bernal
in Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization
in her book Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth As History. In Black Athena Revisited (1996), which she edited with Guy MacLean Rogers, her colleague at Wellesley College, the ideas of Martin Bernal are further scrutinized.
In 2008, Lefkowitz published History Lesson, which the Wall Street Journal described as a "personal account of what she experienced as a result of questioning the veracity of Afrocentrism and the motives of its advocates." She was attacked in newsletters from the Wellesley Africana Studies Department by her colleague Tony Martin
, which turned into a rancorous, personal conflict with anti-Semitic elements. Martin stated in May 1994 at Cornell University that "Black people should interpret their own reality. . . . Jews have been in the forefront of efforts to thwart the interpretation of our own history." In another incident described in her book, Yosef A. A. ben-Jochannan
, the author of Africa: The Mother of Western Civilization, gave the Martin Luther King lecture at Wellesley in 1993. Dr. Lefkowitz attended this lecture with her husband, Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford University. In that lecture, ben-Jochannan stated that Aristotle stole his philosophy from the library at Alexandria, Egypt. During the question and answer session following the lecture, Lefkowitz asked ben-Jochannan, "How would that have been possible, when the library was not built until after his death?" ben-Jochannan replied that the dates were uncertain. Sir Lloyd-Jones responded, "Rubbish!" Lefkowitz writes that ben-Jochannan proceeded to tell those present that "they could and should believe what black instructors told them" and "that although they might think that Jews were all 'hook-nosed and sallow faced,' there were other Jews who looked like himself."
Lefkowitz was married to Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Regius Professor Emeritus of Greek
at Oxford University
from 1982 until his death in 2009.
Afrocentrism
Afrocentrism is cultural ideology mostly limited to the United States, dedicated to the history of Black people a response to global racist attitudes about African people and their historical contributions by revisiting this history with an African cultural and ideological center...
book, Not Out of Africa (1996). She is the widow of Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones
Hugh Lloyd-Jones
Sir Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones FBA was a British classical scholar and Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford....
.
Biography
Lefkowitz earned her B.A. from Wellesley College in 1957, Phi Beta Kappa with honors in Greek, and received her Ph.D. in Classical PhilologyClassical philology
Classical philology is the study of ancient Greek and classical Latin. Classical philology has been defined as "the careful study of the literary and philosophical texts of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds." Greek and Latin literature and civilization have traditionally been considered...
from Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
(now part of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
) in 1961. She returned to Wellesley College in 1959 as an instructor in Greek. In 1979 she was named Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, a position she held until her retirement in 2005. Lefkowitz holds an honorary degree from Trinity College (1996), which cited her “deep concern for intellectual integrity,” and also from the University of Patras
University of Patras
University of Patras is a university established in 1964 in Patras, Greece. Initially housed in the city centre, the university's campus is now located in the adjacent municipality of Rio...
(1999) and from Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....
(2000). In 2004 she received a Radcliffe Graduate Society Medal. In 2006 she was awarded a National Humanities Medal
National Humanities Medal
The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities.The award, given by the...
“for outstanding excellence in scholarship and teaching.” In 2008 she was the recipient of a Wellesley College Alumnae Achievement Award.
Lefkowitz has published on subjects including mythology, women in antiquity, Pindar
Pindar
Pindar , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian described him as "by far the greatest of the nine lyric poets, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich...
, and fiction in ancient biography. She came to the attention of a wider audience through her criticism of the claims of Martin Bernal
Martin Bernal
Martin Gardiner Bernal is a Professor Emeritus of Government and Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University. He is a scholar of modern Chinese political history...
in Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization
Black Athena
Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization is a highly controversial three-volume work by Martin Bernal. He discusses Ancient Greece in a new light. Bernal's thesis discusses the perception of ancient Greece in relation to Greece's African and Asiatic neighbors, which he...
in her book Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth As History. In Black Athena Revisited (1996), which she edited with Guy MacLean Rogers, her colleague at Wellesley College, the ideas of Martin Bernal are further scrutinized.
In 2008, Lefkowitz published History Lesson, which the Wall Street Journal described as a "personal account of what she experienced as a result of questioning the veracity of Afrocentrism and the motives of its advocates." She was attacked in newsletters from the Wellesley Africana Studies Department by her colleague Tony Martin
Tony Martin
Anthony or Tony Martin may refer to:Education*Tony Martin , professor at Wellesley College known for racial controversies in the early 1990s.*Donald A...
, which turned into a rancorous, personal conflict with anti-Semitic elements. Martin stated in May 1994 at Cornell University that "Black people should interpret their own reality. . . . Jews have been in the forefront of efforts to thwart the interpretation of our own history." In another incident described in her book, Yosef A. A. ben-Jochannan
Yosef Ben-Jochannan
Yosef A.A. Ben-Jochannan was born in Gonder, Ethiopia), also known as Dr. Ben, is an Afrocentric historian. He is notable for his writings and teachings about Black Jews and ancient Africans, and how Europeans, notably white Jews, appropriated their culture and legacy...
, the author of Africa: The Mother of Western Civilization, gave the Martin Luther King lecture at Wellesley in 1993. Dr. Lefkowitz attended this lecture with her husband, Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford University. In that lecture, ben-Jochannan stated that Aristotle stole his philosophy from the library at Alexandria, Egypt. During the question and answer session following the lecture, Lefkowitz asked ben-Jochannan, "How would that have been possible, when the library was not built until after his death?" ben-Jochannan replied that the dates were uncertain. Sir Lloyd-Jones responded, "Rubbish!" Lefkowitz writes that ben-Jochannan proceeded to tell those present that "they could and should believe what black instructors told them" and "that although they might think that Jews were all 'hook-nosed and sallow faced,' there were other Jews who looked like himself."
Lefkowitz was married to Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Regius Professor Emeritus of Greek
Regius Professor of Greek (Oxford)
The Regius Professorship of Greek is a professorship at the University of Oxford in England.Henry VIII founded the chair by 1541. He established five Regius Professorships in the University , the others being the Regius chairs of Divinity, Medicine, Civil Law and Hebrew.-List of holders:* John...
at Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
from 1982 until his death in 2009.
Books
- The Victory Ode : An Introduction (1976), ISBN 0815550456 ISBN 978-0815550457
- Heroines and Hysterics (1981), ISBN 0715615181 ISBN 978-0715615188
- The Lives of the Greek Poets (1981), ISBN 0801827485 ISBN 978-0801827488
- Women's Life in Greece and Rome (1982) editor, with Maureen Fant, ISBN 0801883105 ISBN 978-0801883101
- Women in Greek Myth (1986), ISBN 080188649X ISBN 978-0801886492
- First-person Fictions : Pindar's Poetic "I" (1991), ISBN 0198146868 ISBN 978-0198146865
- Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth As History (1997), ISBN 046509838X ISBN 978-0465098385
- Black Athena Revisited (1996), limited preview online ISBN 0807845558 ISBN 978-0807845554
- Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn From Myths (2003), ISBN 0300107692 ISBN 978-0300107692
- History Lesson (2008), ISBN 030012659X ISBN 978-0300126594
External links
- Mary Lefkowitz page at Wellesley College
- Greek Gods, Human Lives: Our Fascination with Myths: lecture by Mary Lefkowitz
- Excerpts from Mary Lefkowitz's Not Out of Africa
- Afrocentrism, Talk of the NationTalk of the NationTalk of the Nation is a talk radio program based in the United States, produced by National Public Radio, and is broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Its focus is current events and controversial issues....
, 1997-07-09. NPR discussion with Lefkowitz and Ron Karenga - Audio interview with Lefkowitz at National Review Online
- Skepdic.com book review of Mary Lefkowitz's Not Out of Africa
- Martin Bernal's review of Mary Lefkowitz's Not Out of Africa
- Mary Lefkowitz's response to Martin Bernal's review
- Black Athena and the debate about Afrocentrism in the US by Thomas A. Schmitz (PDF)
- The great Greek race odyssey an account of Lefkowitz's conflict with Tony MartinTony Martin (professor)Tony Martin was an American professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College who retired in June 2007 as professor emeritus after 34 years teaching at the Africana Studies Department where he was a founding member...
in her book: 'History Lessons' (The Times of London) - Carlin Romano, "Lefkowitz Agonistes: A Contemporary Odyssey, The Chronicle Review archived