Photo: Peter Stone / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Skinner is the kind of scholar I find quietly heroic. He never chased the spotlight, yet as a founder of the Cambridge School he reshaped how we read political thought entirely, insisting we hear ideas in their own historical voice rather than judging them by ours. The Balzan and Wolfson prizes and the Regius chair at Cambridge are real markers of substance, not hype. What impresses me most is the patience: spending a lifetime tracing the meaning of a single word in context. That intellectual stubbornness rarely trends, but it endures, and I suspect his influence will only deepen with time.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Quentin Skinner
- Name (Japanese)
- クェンティン・スキナー
- Reading
- くぇんてぃん・すきなー
- Born
- November 26, 1940 (age 85)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Dragon
- Origin
- Oldham, United Kingdom
- Occupation
- philosopher / historian / university teacher / political scientist
2. Background
- University
- Gonville and Caius College
Awards & achievements
- 2006 Balzan Prize
- 2008 Bielefeld Science Prize
- 1979 Wolfson History Prize
- 2001 Benjamin E. Lippincott Award
- Fellow of the British Academy
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Quentin Skinner born?
Born November 26, 1940 (age 85).
Where is Quentin Skinner from?
Quentin Skinner is from Oldham, United Kingdom.
What does Quentin Skinner do?
Quentin Skinner works as philosopher, historian, university teacher, political scientist.
Philosopher — see all → · Historian — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
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.