Vale John Melville-Jones

As many UWAASA members may already know, long-standing UWAASA member Emeritus Professor John R. Melville-Jones AM FAHA sadly passed away in early 2026. John’s colleague, Associate Professor Christopher Mallan (School of Humanities, Classics and Ancient History) has allowed us to share the obituary he delivered at John’s funeral.

Memories of John Melville-Jones – the scholar and the colleague

I had only the pleasure of knowing John for what was the final portion of his long and varied academic life at the University of Western Australia. Yet over these eight or so years, I came to know John well. For even though John was by that stage “off the payroll” (he was most insistent that he never actually “retired”) he was a constant and always friendly presence in my years at UWA – sharing research, institutional knowledge, and advice (academic, grammatical, and yes, even sartorial).

The theme for my speech is John the scholar and colleague. As a scholar, John’s contributions cannot be ignored. Over the course of his long career, he produced important works in the area of Greek and Roman Numismatics – that is the study of ancient coinage. His trilogy Testimonia Numaria is unlikely to be superseded as key works of reference, likewise his Dictionary of Greek and Roman Coins. In addition to these works (which by anyone’s calculations qualify as ‘big books’, John wrote over thirty articles in learned journals, including the Numismatic Chronicle, and Latomus, as well as specialist publications such as Schweitzer Müntzblätter.

Yet to classify John’s work as that of a distinguished numismatist, barely describes John’s academic career. He was a translator of difficult Byzantine (or medieval) Greek, as demonstrated by his now-standard translation and commentary on Eustathius of Thessalonike’s on the Capture of Thessalonike. He also was a key member of a research team which translated Italian documents from the Venetian period of Byzantine History. This sort of all-round skill is unusual in any age, but one which is particularly rare in the modern academy.

Most of all, it was John’s contribution to the teaching and research culture of UWA that he left his most profound legacy. John arrived at UWA at a time of considerable transition. Under the leadership of Mervyn Austin, the department of Classics and Ancient History expanded dramatically in the 1960s with the arrival of such scholars as Paul Weaver Graeme Clarke , John Jory, and Brian Bosworth. In this context, John’s adaptability and all-round skills allowed him to teach across language units – including units on Greek Comedy and Tragedy, and material culture, such as Greek and Roman Architecture. He also produced a translation of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata which was performed by the students.

With respect to John the colleague, there are two recurring themes. The first is his impish humour. To recount some of John’s jokes would not, as Xenophon would have but it, ‘consistent with the dignity of history’. For those of you who were not aware of John’s humour, it lay somewhere between the sophisticated word-play of Dennis Norden, and the ribaldry of Benny Hill. Yet, John’s humour was always without malice. He loved to show up the occasional (if not frequent) absurdity of university administrative systems. His “Making a Complaint at the University of Western Australia” may be read alternately as a Menippian Satire, or serious administrative handbook.

The second constant theme is John’s thoughtfulness. When John’s death was announced to the Australian Classics Community, I received numerous reminiscences of John’s kindness and friendliness. For example, Kathryn Welch, now Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney recalled meeting John for the first time in 1989, when she was still a graduate student. John however, immediately put her at her ease. Or again, a story was told by a former UWA student who said how John’s manner made him feel welcome in the Department, and that he remained a friendly presence throughout this student’s time at UWA and indeed over the years following graduation. Yet tellingly, for all his academic distinction, many of his closest friends were drawn from the professional staff of the university as much as they were from the academic staff. Richard Small, Milda Whittaker, Michelle Tuson, Heather Williams, Linda Mowat and many others from the professional teams, were all a key part of John’s inner circle.

Let me conclude with a story from the Classical world, and one of John’s favourite historians. In Herodotus, there is a story in book one concerning a meeting between the Lydian potentate Croesus – the Elon Musk of the age – and the Athenian Solon. Croesus asks Solon who is the happiest of men – expecting Solon to say “you of course”. Instead, Solon offers the name of an obscure Athenian named Tellos. Tellos was a man who lived to see his children prosper and have children of their own, who himself was neither rich nor poor but had sufficient means, and who died well in battle. Croesus, was perplexed by this response, and asked Solon for an explanation. Solon replied that it was only by looking at a man’s life in its entirety that one could judge whether he was fortunate or not. In other words, Solon, recognised that things such as honours or great wealth were transient.

By this Solonian measure, I think John was a man who lived a happy life. At UWA, the institution to which he gave so much, he will be missed greatly by many, but he will be also remembered with great affection as a good colleague.

A/Prof Christopher Mallan (Classics, UWA)