Robert Sonkowsky (September 16, 1931 - November 16, 2014)[1] was a professor emeritus of Classical and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota.
His bachelor's degree was from Lawrence College (1954), and his PhD from the University of North Carolina (1958).
He was an Honorary Member of the Center for Chronobiology in the Mayo Building, Medical School.
Sonkowsky was a leading authority on and a performer of oral renditions of classical texts.
He made the album Homer: The Death of Patroclus - Chapter XVI of the Iliad with Folkways Records as part of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.