Brian Westerdale Downs (4 July 1893 – 3 March 1984) was an English literary scholar and linguist.
[3] In 1915, he graduated Bachelor of Arts (BA) with first-class honours in Modern and Medieval Languages (German, Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon).
[1] In the summer of 1918, with hostilities still going on, Downs held a meeting in his rooms leading to the foundation of the Modern Humanities Research Association, dedicated to the study of European languages.
Mother and son moved to the United States of America during World War II but, at the age of nine, Jonathan was hit and killed by a truck while outside his home in Northampton, Massachusetts.
On 14 September 1946, Downs married for a second time to Evelyn Faith Marion Wrangham (née Doubble) (1907–1977).
[1] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the Polar Star (KNO) by Sweden in 1954 and Officer of the Legion of Honour by France.