Born in London, Dowsett came into contact with expert scholar
Harold Bailey whilst at
Peterhouse, Cambridge, who introduced him to Armenian. After further study (including four years on a substantial British scholarship in Paris), Dowsett was appointed as lecturer in Armenian at the
School of Oriental and African Studies in London - the only post in the subject in Britain at the time. In 1965 when the chair was established at Oxford University, he was the obvious candidate.
Bibliography •
History of the Caucasian Albanians (1961) (translator) •
Penitential of David of Gandzak (1961) (translator) •
The Inscribed Tiles (1972) •
Kütahya Tiles and Pottery from the Armenian Cathedral of St.James, Jerusalem. 2 Volumes. With John Carswell, Oxford: Clarendon Press (1972) • ''Sayat'-Nova: An 18th-century Troubadour: a Biographical and Literary Study'' (1996) ==Children's author==