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J.R.R. Tolkien was born on 3rd January 1892 in Bloemfontein. After serving in the First World War, Tolkien embarked upon a distinguished academic career and was recognised as one of the finest philologists in the world. He is, however, best known as the creator of Middle-earth and author of such classic and extraordinary works of fiction as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. His books have been translated into more than 80 languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide. He was awarded a CBE, and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Oxford University in 1972. He died in 1973 at the age of 81. Ch ristopher Tolkien, born on 21 November 1924, was the third son of J.R.R. Tolkien. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm as a pilot. At the end of the war he returned to Oxford University and became a Fellow and Tutor in English of New College in 1964, lecturing in the University on early English and northern literature. Appointed by J.R.R Tolkien to be his literary executor, he devoted himself after his father's death in 1973 to the completion and publication of his writings, notably The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, the twelve volumes collectively known as The History of Middle-earth, and The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin. In 1975 he moved with his wife Baillie to live in France and in 2016 was awarded the University of Oxford's Bodley Medal for his outstanding contribution to the world of literature, culture, science and communication. He died on 16 January 2020 at the age of 95. Richard Ovenden is Bodley's Librarian and Helen Hamlyn Director of University Libraries, the 25th person to hold the senior executive position in the library of the University of Oxford, having moved to the Bodleian Libraries in 2003 as Keeper of Special Collections. He is also the current head of the University of Oxford's Gardens, Libraries and Museums group. Since 1987 he has worked in a number of important archives and libraries, including the House of Lords Library, the National Library of Scotland (as a Curator of Rare Books) and in the University of Edinburgh, where he was Director of Collections. Richard was awarded the OBE in The Queen's Birthday Honours, 2019