Cheke, Sir John

Cheke, Sir John, was born at Cambridge June 16, 1514, and was educated at the University there, devoting himself especially to the study of Greek, then much neglected in England. When the first professorship of Greek was founded in Cambridge by king Henry VIII, about 1540, Cheke was appointed professor. He was made tutor of the prince, afterwards Edward VI, but when queen Mary came to the throne his property was confiscated. He fled to the Continent, but was arrested at Brussels by order of Philip II, and sent back to London. He abjured Protestantism, but this act preyed on his mind, and he died in the following year, September 13, 1557. His writings were very numerous and learned; among them are De Obitu Martini Buceri (Lond. 1551, 4to); De Pronunciatione Linguae Graecae (Basil, 1555); Translation of Matthew (from the Greek, edited by Goodwin, Cambridge). — Genesis Biog. Dict. 3:301; Strype, Life of Cheke (Lond. 1705, 8vo); Kippis, Biog. Britannica, 3:484.