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Ivan Mortimer Linforth

1879 – 1976

American classics professor

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About Ivan Mortimer Linforth

Lived 1879 – 1976 (aged 97). Ivan Mortimer Linforth was an American classical philologist, university teacher and religious studies scholar.

Ivan Mortimer Linforth (15 September 1879, San Francisco – 15 December 1976, Berkeley, California) was an American scholar, Professor of Greek at University of California, Berkeley. According to the Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists he was "one of the great Hellenists of his time". He is best known for his book The Arts of Orpheus, in which he analysed a large number of sources for Orphism and Orphic literature. His work is noted for its thoroughly sceptical approach to the evidence, attempting to the repudiate the notions of a coherent Orphism put forward by earlier scholars. His conclusion was that there was no exclusively "Orphic" system of belief in Ancient Greece. His work had an impact on the scholarship of Orphism, with Eric R. Dodds writing in 1951 that due to Linforth "he edifice reared by an ingenious scholarship upon these foundations remains for me a house of dreams".

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University
Positions held
President of the Society for Classical Studies
Employers
University of California, Berkeley
Also known as
Ivan Linforth

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Ivan Mortimer Linforth's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Ivan Mortimer Linforth?

American classics professor (1879–1976)

When was Ivan Mortimer Linforth born?

Ivan Mortimer Linforth was born on 15 September 1879 in San Francisco.

When did Ivan Mortimer Linforth die?

Ivan Mortimer Linforth died on 15 December 1976 in Berkeley.

What was Ivan Mortimer Linforth's occupation?

Ivan Mortimer Linforth was a classical philologist, university teacher and religious studies scholar.

What nationality was Ivan Mortimer Linforth?

Ivan Mortimer Linforth was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Ivan Mortimer Linforth

· Wikidata: Q1675569

· DBpedia: Ivan Mortimer Linforth

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ivan Mortimer Linforth. https://biography.guide/ivan-mortimer-linforth/

MLA: "Ivan Mortimer Linforth." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ivan-mortimer-linforth/.

Chicago: "Ivan Mortimer Linforth." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ivan-mortimer-linforth/.

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