ともあろうa …, of all people
Someone with a title to live up to has done something beneath it, and you are dismayed: "a professor, of all people". Mostly for reading. Said aloud, it is a rebuke.
For an editor-in-chief, of all people, to approve publication without checking the facts was careless.
For a university professor, of all people, to say such a thing…
How to form it
Title or status + ともあろう + 者／人／方 + が…
者 is stern, 人 plain, and 方 keeps some respect. The sentence often ends in とは or なんて.
- Before it
- A title or standing that sets a standard: 大学教授, 警察官, 医者, 大臣, プロ. Also あなた: "you, of all people".
- After it
- What they did that is beneath them, then the verdict (情けない, 信じられない), often left hanging after とは.
- Tone
- Indignant or dismayed.
- Where you'll meet it
- Editorials, commentary, letters to a newspaper, a dressing-down in a drama.
About yourself: 私としたことが
ともあろう is usually about someone else. For your own slip the phrase is 私としたことが, "how could I, of all people".
How could I, of all people, oversleep on a day as important as this?
In use
It is shocking that a member of a research ethics committee, of all people, had been falsifying the investigation records.
The person in charge of food hygiene, of all people, had been neglecting to record the storage temperatures.
You, of all people, making such a basic mistake.
A let-down follows, not praise
English "someone of his standing" can lead into praise. ともあろう can't: what follows is something beneath the title.
Not said: 一流の
(A chef of his standing served us a superb meal.)
Praise is さすが or だけあって: 一流の料理人だけあって、見事な料理だった.
Close neighbours
のくせにN3
The spoken way to blame the same gap: "he's the one in charge, and yet". Rude, where ともあろう is grave.
He is the one in charge, and yet whenever something goes wrong he blames someone else.
たるものN1
Says what anyone in the role must do. ともあろう says that one of them didn't.
A doctor must put the patient's dignity first.
Check yourself
1Which sentence sounds natural?
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one fits?
（ ）ともあろう者が、
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
A company or an institution usually takes もの, written in kana.
For a major bank, of all things, to let its customers' data leak…
More sentences
A seasoned mechanic, of all people, skipped the tool check before starting work and caused an accident.
For a veteran proofreader, of all people, not to have checked how a name is written…
The person in charge of data protection, of all people, sent the documents without checking who they were going to.