W. A. (William Abbott) Oldfather

Born in 1880 and educated at Hanover College and the University of Munich, William Abbott Oldfather became a noted American scholar of the ancient world. He taught at the University of Illinois, where he built a long academic career in classics and helped shape the study of Greek and Roman literature and history.

He is best known for research on the Stoic philosopher Epictetus and for work connected to Roman history, bibliography, and classical reference tools. His publications include studies of Augustus and the Roman frontier as well as major scholarly aids for reading Latin authors.

Oldfather died in 1945. He is still remembered mainly within classical studies, where his careful, text-focused scholarship and editorial work continued to be useful long after his lifetime.