Ann Moss

Jennifer Ann Moss, (née Poole; 21 January 1938 – 13 August 2018) was a British scholar of French literature and classical reception, specialising in the French Renaissance. She was Professor of French at the University of Durham from 1996 to 2003. In retirement, she became a lay minister in the Church of England.

Early life and education Moss was born on 21 January 1938 to John Shakespeare Poole and Dorothy Kathleen Beese (née Sills). She was educated at Barr's Hill School, then a grammar school in Coventry, West Midlands. She studied the Medieval and Modern Languages Tripos at Newnham College, Cambridge, graduating with a first class honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1959: as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree. She then began postgraduate studies at Cambridge under the supervision of Ian McFarlane.

Academic career From 1963 to 1964, Moss was an assistant lecturer in the French Department of the University College of North Wales in Bangor: she had to give up this job to care for her two young children.

Moss was additionally an active member of the Church of England. She trained as a lay minister in retirement, serving as a reader from 2005 to 2010. Her funeral mass was held at Durham Cathedral.

Honours In 1998, Moss was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. On 28 January 2013, she was awarded the Chancellor's Medal by Durham University in recognition of distinguished service.

Selected works