Photo: Amrei-Marie; cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 05:47, 1 May 2015 (UTC) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Ian Kershaw was born on April 29, 1943 in Oldham, United Kingdom and is credited as a contemporary historian, university teacher and writer. Ian Kershaw is 83 years old as of 2026. Schooling on record includes University of Liverpool. Listed accolades include Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1994), Knight Bachelor (2002), Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding (2012) and 5 more.
My Take
Ian Kershaw is, for my money, one of the most important historians of his generation. His biography of Hitler is rightly considered definitive, and his knighthood and German honours signal how seriously his work is taken on both sides of the old divide. What I admire is that he treats the Nazi era not as a parade of dates but as a problem of society and human psychology, asking how ordinary people enabled catastrophe. Coming from working-class Oldham to the heights of academia, he embodies the idea that rigorous, morally serious scholarship still matters. I find his clarity and courage genuinely inspiring.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Ian Kershaw
- Name (Japanese)
- イアン・カーショー
- Reading
- いあん・かーしょー
- Born
- April 29, 1943 (age 83)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Goat
- Origin
- Oldham, United Kingdom
- Occupation
- contemporary historian / university teacher / writer / historian / opinion journalist
2. Background
- University
- University of Liverpool
Awards & achievements
- 1994 Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2002 Knight Bachelor
- 2012 Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding
- 2013 Meyer-Struckmann Prize for Humanities and Social Sciences
- 2001 Wolfson History Prize
- 2018 Charlemagne Medal for European Media
- Fellow of the British Academy
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
3. Links
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-21
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Ian Kershaw born?
Born April 29, 1943 (age 83).
Where is Ian Kershaw from?
Ian Kershaw is from Oldham, United Kingdom.
What does Ian Kershaw do?
Ian Kershaw works as contemporary historian, university teacher, writer, historian, opinion journalist.
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