Elspeth Mary Kennedy, MA, DPhil, FSA (6 August 1921 – 10 March 2006)[1] was a British academic and a prominent medievalist.
Her academic career was delayed by World War II, during which she worked for the government — in 1940, while still 18 years of age she began working for MI5, domiciled initially at Wormwood Scrubs[2] and later at Bletchley Park.
[2] She went on to do research, and 1948 embarked on her life's main theme, the Lancelot en prose.
"Her undergraduates loved her, and many became her research students; in French departments across the world there are professors and lecturers who are medievalists because they were inspired by Elspeth's tutorials.
"[2] Kennedy was President of the Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature (1984–88), President of the International Arthurian Society (1987–89),[2] and editor of the international journal Medium Aevum ("Middle Ages") from 1990 until 2002.