About Brinley Rees
Lived 1919 – 2004 (aged 84). Brinley Rees was a British scholar, pedagogue, head teacher, classical philologist and patristic scholar.
Brinley Roderick Rees (27 December 1919 – 21 October 2004) was a Welsh academic. He wrote extensively on classics, particularly the study of the Greek language. His early work was devoted to Greek papyri; a later publication was devoted to the life and letters of Pelagius.
Life and career Rees was born on 27 December 1919. Rees was educated at Christ College, Brecon, and at Merton College, Oxford. After wartime service in the Royal Welch Fusiliers took his first academic position at Cardiff High School for Boys, where he was an assistant master between 1947 and 1948.
Rees then started his long career in higher education. In 1948, he became lecturer in classics at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, then senior lecturer in Greek at the University of Manchester from 1956. the very first principal in the college's long history who was not in holy orders. He was a Welsh Supernumerary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, in 1975–1976 by virtue of his position as Principal of St David's. The Use of Greek, 1961 Papyri from Hermopolis and other Byzantine Documents, 1964 Strength in What Remains, 1980 Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic, 1988, Boydell Press The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers, 1991 Pelagius: life and letters, 1998
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Brinley Rees's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Brinley Rees?
Classical historian
When was Brinley Rees born?
Brinley Rees was born on 27 December 1919 in Tondu.
When did Brinley Rees die?
Brinley Rees died on 21 October 2004 in Cardiff.
What was Brinley Rees's occupation?
Brinley Rees was a scholar, pedagogue, head teacher, classical philologist and patristic scholar.
What nationality was Brinley Rees?
Brinley Rees was British.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Brinley Rees. https://biography.guide/brinley-rees/
MLA: "Brinley Rees." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/brinley-rees/.
Chicago: "Brinley Rees." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/brinley-rees/.
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