Peter Kornicki
Encyclopedia
Peter Francis Kornicki FBA, is an English Japanologist. He is Professor of East Asian Studies at Cambridge University. He was previously Professor of Japanese History
and Bibliography
.
Kornicki was born at Maidenhead on 1 May 1950, the eldest son of Sq/Ldr Franciszek Kornicki and Patience Ceredwin Kornicka (née Williams). He went to schools in Malta, Aden and Cyprus and was then educated at St George's College, Weybridge
. He matriculated at Lincoln College, Oxford
, initially to read Classics. He graduated with First Class Honours in Japanese with Korean in 1972. He spent the academic year 1972-3 as a Japanese Ministry of Education foreign student at Tokyo University of Education (now Tsukuba University) and then returned to Oxford and in 1975 received an MSc in Applied Social Studies. He then moved to St Antony's College, Oxford
to begin work on a DPhil on Japanese literature of the Meiji period. In 1976 he was awarded a Japan Foundation fellowship for study in Japan and spent 18 months at the Research Institute for the Humanities at Kyoto University, studying under Professors Asukai Masamichi and Yoshida Mitsukuni. He taught Japanese at the University of Tasmania
from 1978 to 1982, and was subsequently an associate professor at the Research Institute for the Humanities at Kyoto University
. In 1985 he came to Cambridge, where he has been a fellow of Robinson College
since 1986, and Deputy Warden since 2008. He was President of the European Association for Japanese Studies
(EAJS) in 1997-2000.
His main research interest is in the history of the book in Japan, but he is also interested in the lives and work of the British pioneer japanologists Frederick Victor Dickins
, William George Aston
, Ernest Mason Satow
and Basil Hall Chamberlain
.
History of Japan
The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...
and Bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
.
Kornicki was born at Maidenhead on 1 May 1950, the eldest son of Sq/Ldr Franciszek Kornicki and Patience Ceredwin Kornicka (née Williams). He went to schools in Malta, Aden and Cyprus and was then educated at St George's College, Weybridge
St George's College, Weybridge
St George's College, Weybridge is an independent mixed Roman Catholic co-educational day school in Surrey, England. It had historically been an all-boys' boarding school. The first girls entered the 6th Form in the 1960s and the school decided to take girls at age 11 in 1998...
. He matriculated at Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
, initially to read Classics. He graduated with First Class Honours in Japanese with Korean in 1972. He spent the academic year 1972-3 as a Japanese Ministry of Education foreign student at Tokyo University of Education (now Tsukuba University) and then returned to Oxford and in 1975 received an MSc in Applied Social Studies. He then moved to St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
to begin work on a DPhil on Japanese literature of the Meiji period. In 1976 he was awarded a Japan Foundation fellowship for study in Japan and spent 18 months at the Research Institute for the Humanities at Kyoto University, studying under Professors Asukai Masamichi and Yoshida Mitsukuni. He taught Japanese at the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
from 1978 to 1982, and was subsequently an associate professor at the Research Institute for the Humanities at Kyoto University
Kyoto University
, or is a national university located in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest Japanese university, and formerly one of Japan's Imperial Universities.- History :...
. In 1985 he came to Cambridge, where he has been a fellow of Robinson College
Robinson College, Cambridge
Robinson College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.Robinson is the newest of the Cambridge colleges, and is unique in being the only one to have been intended, from its inception, for both undergraduate and graduate students of either sex.- History :The college was founded...
since 1986, and Deputy Warden since 2008. He was President of the European Association for Japanese Studies
European Association for Japanese Studies
The European Association for Japanese Studies was established in 1973 by European scholars in order to facilitate academic exchange in the field of Japanese studies within Europe....
(EAJS) in 1997-2000.
His main research interest is in the history of the book in Japan, but he is also interested in the lives and work of the British pioneer japanologists Frederick Victor Dickins
Frederick Victor Dickins
Frederick Victor Dickins was a British surgeon, barrister, orientalist and university administrator. He is now remembered as a translator of Japanese literature.-Life:...
, William George Aston
William George Aston
William George Aston was a British diplomat, author and scholar-expert in the language and history of Japan and Korea.-Early life:...
, Ernest Mason Satow
Ernest Mason Satow
Sir Ernest Mason Satow PC, GCMG, , known in Japan as "" , known in China as "薩道義" or "萨道义", was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist....
and Basil Hall Chamberlain
Basil Hall Chamberlain
Basil Hall Chamberlain was a professor of Tokyo Imperial University and one of the foremost British Japanologists active in Japan during the late 19th century. He also wrote some of the earliest translations of haiku into English...
.
Honours
- Japan FoundationJapan FoundationThe was established in 1972 by an Act of the Japanese Diet as a special legal entity to undertake international dissemination of Japanese culture, and became an independent administrative institution under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Ministry of Japan on 1 October 2003 under the "Independent...
: Japan Foundation Special Prize, 1992. - British AcademyBritish AcademyThe British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
, Fellow (FBA, 2000.
Works
- The Book in Japan: A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth Century, Leiden: Brill, 1998. Paperback, University of Hawaii Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0824823375
- Early Japanese Books in Cambridge University Library: A Catalogue of the AstonWilliam George AstonWilliam George Aston was a British diplomat, author and scholar-expert in the language and history of Japan and Korea.-Early life:...
, Satow and von Siebold Collections, with N. Hayashi (Cambridge University Press), pp. xx + 520, 1991 ISBN 978-0521364966