Donor Profile - Charles Tesoriero

When Charles Tesoriero took his own life in 2005 he left behind a legion of saddened but appreciative admirers.

Tributes from colleagues and students flowed for a man “unshakeably and unselfishly committed to the teaching of Latin and to communicating to others the intense pleasure which he took in its language and literature”.

A charismatic and passionate lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at UNE, Charles was widely lauded as one of the brightest stars in the Australian Classical universe. Students were drawn into his orbit, including a young Dr Sarah Lawrence.

“Charles taught me in my third year and I was the first Honours student he supervised at UNE,” Sarah recalls. “He had a huge personality, and was extremely engaging and energetic. Charles managed to dramatically grow the number of Latin students learning through UNE and a lot of that was through his sheer force of personality.

I can remember him going into residential colleges and speaking about modern television shows that illustrated ancient genres; for instance, he once used South Park to explain ancient comedy. Latin was not just a passion but a lifestyle for Charles.”

Even in death, he wanted his love for the ancient world to live on. So Charles left a generous bequest to UNE to establish an endowed lectureship in Latin language and literature. At the time, his uncle and godfather Ron Tesoriero expressed the family’s delight that his nephew’s dream could be realised.

“(Charles was) very much aware of the limitations that existed for others to have academic opportunities at a teaching level in Latin at university,” Ron wrote. “It is my hope that those who benefit from Charles’s bequest will not only advance the cause of promoting a love for the classics, but will also learn something of the motives for philanthropy; that concern for others that we of the family will always have as our memory of Charles.”

UNE colleague Emeritus Professor Greg Horsley said the lectureship celebrates Charles and his considerable academic contributions but also enshrines the importance of the work he loved and acknowledges UNE’s proud history of teaching the classics.

“Modern culture owes a great debt to Latin, for its influence on our history, architecture, philosophy, social networks and legal system,” Professor Horsley says. “To conserve things that have been perceived as valuable for centuries is an important responsibility to pass on to the next generation, and Charles’ lectureship helps to achieve that.

“Charles had this magnetism. He turned on a light bulb for many people and I think it’s up to those of us who knew Charles to keep his memory alive, in the hope that we may turn on a light bulb for others.”

In 2013, Sarah became only the second Charles Tesoriero Senior Lecturer in Latin at UNE. She believes honouring his legacy is an important part of her role. “I see it as a passing of the torch, and inspiration to make my work as passionate and inclusive as possible,” Sarah says. “If I can do a similar thing to what Charles did, then I am honouring our shared passion for the subject, as well as his incredible generosity to our institution.

“The classics have a long, poor track record for inclusivity. At UNE, I get to introduce this exciting ancient world and everything that goes along with it to a variety of people. It’s not about their background and what they have done in the past, but their love for the subject today. I can’t think of anywhere else that would allow me to do this in the same way.”

There is another thing that Charles left upon his death – the academic robes he purchased especially for Sarah’s
graduation. She now wears them proudly.

“They are capacious robes – Charles was over 6 foot tall and I’m just 5 foot 2 inches – but I’m always conscious of
the fact that I am wearing his robes,” Sarah says. “When I was in my first academic procession, to watch my Honours students graduate, it was a big moment.

“I always make sure that I use my full title and that I talk about Charles. When the next Tesoriero appointment is made, I would like to think that they will similarly pick up some of these stories and his vision, to keep sharing the core of what he wanted and did at UNE.”