William Hardy McNeill

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William Hardy McNeill on his 87th birthday (2004)

William Hardy McNeill (born October 31, 1917 in Vancouver , British Columbia , † July 8, 2016 in Torrington , Connecticut ) was an American historian of Canadian descent.

Life

William McNeill, son of the theologian John T. McNeill, studied at the University of Chicago , where he received his bachelor's degree in 1938 and his master's degree in 1939. In 1947 he successfully completed his dissertation at Cornell University ( PhD ). Until his retirement in 2006 he was Professor of History at the University of Chicago. In 1964 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1977 to the American Philosophical Society . Since 1976 he has been a corresponding member of the British Academy . In February 2010, McNeill received the National Humanities Medal from US President Barack Obama for his life's work as professor and author of more than twenty influential books on history and civilization .

research

McNeill was one of the main researchers and authors in the field of world history (English world history ), is shaped the of mutually influencing civilizations or cultures in the sense of an interdependent world. He also published works on the rise of Western civilization , in which he also outlined its - in his eyes - immense influence on the rest of the world. His best-known works are "The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community" (1963), for which he received the US National Book Award in 1964 in the "History and Biography" category, and "Plagues and Peoples" , A History of the Epidemics in Human History (1976). He also wrote a biography of the famous English historian and historical philosopher Arnold J. Toynbee (1989).

He is the father of environmental historian John Robert McNeill (* 1954), who has been a history professor at Georgetown University since 1985 .

Works (selection)

The following are published in German:

  • War and Power , Munich: Beck, 1984
  • The great epidemics , Bergisch Gladbach: Lübbe, 1983
  • Epidemics make history , Munich: Pfriemer, 1978

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: William H. McNeill. American Philosophical Society, accessed December 17, 2018 .
  2. ^ Deceased Fellows. British Academy, accessed July 6, 2020 .