Christopher Ryan

Bulletin readers will have noted the brief announcement of Professor Christopher Ryan's untimely death in the last edition (27 February). There is much more to be said about Christopher's period at Sussex and his contribution to the University.

He was appointed Senior Lecturer in Italian in 1990 and arrived at Sussex in January 1991, following an unusual career of ministry first in the Roman Catholic Church and then, after deeply pondered conversion, in the Anglican communion as well as an academic profession of teaching and researching in Cambridge and Toronto.

Christopher was quickly promoted to the Chair in Italian in 1993 and gave unstinting service to Italian Studies and his colleagues in Modern Languages and the former School of European Studies. He worked indefatigably to sustain the teaching of Italian and Modern Languages through very difficult times, valiantly undertaking an extended period as Subject Chair, despite his own ill-health. He was an authoritative figure in the School, noted for his frequently caustic but always principled interventions in debate, and for his attractive combination of down-to-earthness with  courteous formality.

A scholar of note, a distinguished and significantly radical student of Dante, an attentive and exact translator of both Dante and of Michelangelo's poetry, he was also a dedicated teacher, arousing often fierce loyalty among his students and colleagues. The School of European Studies valued Christopher's principled, forthright and scrupulous defence of academic standards, conducted with courtesy, humaneness and acerbic wit.

In 2002 Christopher left Sussex to return to Cambridge and an appointment as Dean of Chapel at King's College. This was the proper setting for the beautiful Requiem Mass that gave his friends, including a small group from Sussex, an opportunity to bid him farewell. There is poignant irony in the fact that he was to enjoy this role, which he so much looked forward to, for so short a time.

The speed and virulence of the lung cancer that took him from us has shocked those who knew Christopher, who feel the loss of this kind and courteous man.

Dr Jeremy Lane, School of Humanities