The Faculty is sorry to announce that Ian Michael passed away on 24th July 2020.
Ian Michael, M.A., D.Phil. (B.A. London, Ph.D. Manchester)
King Alfonso XIII Professor of Spanish Studies and Fellow of Exeter College
Ian Michael, who died in Madrid on 24th July 2020, was King Alfonso XIII Professor of Spanish Studies from 1982 to 2003. He was best known for his work on canonical medieval Spanish texts (the Poema de mio Cid, El libro de Alexandre, El libro de buen amor, La Celestina). He also conducted pioneering research into the history of the book and of Spanish libraries. His other interests included the popular ballad, fantasy literature, bilingual cultures, European cinema, and the detective story. Professor Michael was particularly respected in Spain for his regularly-reprinted edition of the Poema de mio Cid in the Clásicos Castalia series, and he was also very widely known (under his literary pseudonym, David Serafín) as a crime writer.