Early Life
Derek Parfit was born in Chengdu, China, to Norman and Jessie Parfit (née Browne), both medical doctors who had moved to Western China to teach preventive medicine in missionary hospitals. The family returned to the United Kingdom about a year after Parfit was born, settling in Oxford. Parfit was sent to Eton College. He later read Modern History at the University of Oxford, graduating in 1964. In 1965-66 he was a Harkness Fellow at Columbia University and Harvard University. He abandoned historical studies for philosophy during the fellowship, returning to Oxford to become a fellow of All Souls College.
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