is widely known for his research and publications on the Italian humanist Francesco Petrarca. Until becoming Director of the Warburg Institute in 1990, he had taught mainly medieval French literature while pursuing research on the Latin works of Petrarch and Italian humanism; during his ten years at the Warburg his teaching moved closer to his research, but he also spent much of his time in academic diplomatic activities on behalf of the Institute and the British Academy, of which he was for seven years Foreign Secretary. The final six years of his London career were dominated by administration and ‘change management’ as Dean of the School of Advanced Study and Pro-Vice Chancellor. From retirement in the depths of ‘la France profonde’ he continues to read and write about Petrarch, to pursue some diplomatic activity as Vice-President of ALLEA (the federation of European Academies of Sciences), and to bring up two small daughters. His publications mainly lurk unattended in learned journals, but Petrarch (Oxford 1984 - translated into French, Spanish and Italian) and Pétrarque: les voyages de l’esprit (Grenoble 2004) have reached wider audiences. His contribution to Nexus 50 is entitled ‘Posterity Replies to Petrarch’.