In Memoriam: Janet Martin, 1938-2023

Janet Martin, associate professor of classics, emerita, and an expert in medieval Latin, died of cardiovascular disease at her home in Princeton, New Jersey, on August 30. She was 84 years old.

A native of Bogalusa, Louisiana, Dr. Martin received her bachelor’s degree in the history and literature of the Middle Ages at Radcliffe College in 1961. She held a master’s degree in classical studies from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in medieval Latin from Harvard University.

After four years as an instructor and assistant professor at Harvard University, including a year as a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, Dr. Martin spent the rest of her academic career at Princeton. She joined the Princeton faculty in 1973, where she taught for 37 years.

Latin, literature, and the history of the Middle Ages remained at the center of her teaching and scholarship at Princeton. In the classroom, she brought medieval Latin and literature, the classical tradition, and Latin paleography and textual criticism to students.

Dr. Martin’s many contributions to the university community include more than a decade of service on the executive committee of the Program in Medieval Studies, as well as serving as a founding member of the Women’s Studies Committee and an associated faculty member with the Program in Women’s Studies (now the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies).

She retired from teaching in 2010.