Victor Ehrenberg (historian)
{{Short description|German historian and classical scholar (1891–1976)}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Victor Ehrenberg
|birth_name=
|birth_date={{birth date|1891|11|22|df=y}}
|birth_place=Altona, Hamburg, Germany
|death_date={{death date and age|1976|1|25|1891|11|22|df=y}}
|death_place=London, England
|occupation=Historian, author, writer
|relatives=Hans Ehrenberg (brother)
Andrew S. C. Ehrenberg (nephew)
Victor Ehrenberg (uncle)
Richard Ehrenberg (uncle)
Ben Elton (grandson)
|spouse=Eva Dorothea Ehrenberg
|children=Geoffrey Elton
Lewis Elton
}}
Victor Ehrenberg (22 November 1891 – 25 January 1976) was a German-British Jewish historian.
Life
Ehrenberg was born in Altona, Hamburg to a noted German Jewish family. He was the younger brother of Hans Ehrenberg and the nephew of the jurist Victor Ehrenberg, and a nephew of economist Richard Ehrenberg.G.V.R. Born, F.R.S., [http://rsnr.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/56/2/219.full.pdf "The Wide-Ranging Family History of Max Born"] (PDF) The Royal Society. (2002) page 224. Retrieved 2010-11-28
After four years of military service in World War I, he resumed his studies in Tübingen, where he earned his doctorate in 1920 and completed his habilitation at the Goethe University Frankfurt in 1922.{{Cite web |title=Hessian Biography : Extended Search : LAGIS Hessen |url=https://www.lagis-hessen.de/pnd/118681729 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.lagis-hessen.de}}
In 1929, he was appointed to the chair of Ancient History at the Charles University in Prague. Shortly before the German troops invaded, Ehrenberg fled with his family to Great Britain in February 1939, where he held various teaching positions during World War II, including in Newcastle. In 1946, he accepted a professorship at the University of London, having declined a chair in Munich because he did not wish to return to Germany. From 1958, he was member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.{{Cite web |title=Eva and Victor Ehrenberg |url=https://www.hfjs.eu/en/provenienzforschung/provenienzen/ehrenberg-eva-and-victor.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=HfJS |language=en}}
The focus of Ehrenberg's wide-ranging scholarly work was in the field of Greek history. His best-known book was titled Aristophanes and the People of Athens (German title: Aristophanes und das Volk von Athen) and dealt with the sociology of Old Attic comedy. He also wrote over 100 articles for the Pauly encyclopedias.{{Cite web |title=Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft/Register/Victor Ehrenberg – Wikisource |url=https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Paulys_Realencyclop%C3%A4die_der_classischen_Altertumswissenschaft/Register/Victor_Ehrenberg |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=de.wikisource.org |language=de}}
Ehrenberg was married to the teacher Eva Dorothea Ehrenberg, née Sommer (1891–1964), a daughter of Siegfried Sommer and Helene Sommer (High Court Judge, Hessen). He was the father of Geoffrey and Lewis Elton, grandfather of Ben Elton, and first cousin twice removed of Olivia Newton-John.{{Cite web |title=A twist of fate |url=https://www.australianjewishnews.com/a-twist-of-fate/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.australianjewishnews.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Unpacked |date=2022-08-09 |title=Olivia Newton-John's Jewish, Nazi fighting family background |url=https://unpacked.media/olivia-newton-johns-jewish-nazi-fighting-background/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Unpacked |language=en-US}}
He died in London, aged 84. A bequest made in his will to the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London funds the Grote prize, an academic prize for outstanding scholarship in the field of Ancient history.https://london.ac.uk/about-us/how-university-run/trust-funds/history-trust-funds#ehrenberg-prize The University of London, Awards and Prizes. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
Works
- Ost und West. Studien zur geschichtlichen Problematik der Antike. Brno 1935.
- Alexander and the Greeks. Blackwell, Oxford 1938.
- The people of Aristophanes. Blackwell, Oxford 1943.
- Der Staat der Griechen. 2., expanded edition . Artemis, Zürich und Stuttgart 1965.
- Polis und Imperium. Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte. Hrsg. v. K. F. Stroheker und A.J. Graham. Artemis, Zürich und Stuttgart 1965.
- From Solon to Socrates. Greek history and civilization during the sixth and fifth centuries B. C. Methuen, London 1968 und Nachdrucke, {{ISBN|0-415-04024-8}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{DNB portal|118681729|TYP=|NAME=Victor Ehrenberg}}
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Category:German classical scholars
Category:German male non-fiction writers
Category:20th-century German historians
Category:People from Altona, Hamburg
Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom