Barbara Wright (professor)


Barbara Wright was emerita professor of French at Trinity College, Dublin and an expert on and translator of French literature, notably Eugène Fromentin, Charles Baudelaire and Gustave Moreau and other nineteenth century writers, philosophers and artists.

Education and career

Wright earned a B.A. and L.L.B. at the University of Dublin in 1956, an M.A. from the University of Dublin in 1960, and a Ph.D. from Newnham College, University of Cambridge in 1962. She held teaching posts at the Universities of Manchester and Exeter, and was at Dublin from 1965 to 2005. During this time she was elected into the fellowship of Trinity College Dublin and was one of the first four women to do so. She was a world expert on Eugène Fromentin and published extensively on his literature and paintings, as well as exploring connections through literary correspondence of the era. She was awarded an honorary citizenship by Fromentin's home town La Rochelle.

Awards and honours

Wright was a Fellow of the Royal Irish Academy and the Academia Europaea and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. In 1995, the University of Dublin gave her a Litt.D. as an honorary doctorate. She became a chevalier in the National Order of Merit in 1975, and an officer in the order in 2004.
She was named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in September 2019, in recognition of her "exceptional career" in the study of French literature and art.