Geoffrey Elton
| Sir Geoffrey Elton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Gottfried Rudolf Ehrenberg 17 August 1921 Tübingen, Germany |
| Died | 3 December 1994 (aged 73) England |
| Alma mater | University College London |
| Occupation | Historian, writer |
| Spouse(s) | Sheila Lambert |
| Parent(s) |
Victor Ehrenberg Eva Dorothea Sommer |
| Relatives |
Lewis Elton Ben Elton |
Sir Geoffrey Rudolph Elton, FBA (17 August 1921 – 3 December 1994) was a German-born British political and constitutional historian, specialising in the Tudor period. He taught at Clare College, Cambridge and was the Regius Professor of Modern History there from 1983 to 1988.
Elton was born in Tübingen, Germany, as Gottfried Rudolf Ehrenberg. His parents were the Jewish scholars Victor Ehrenberg and Eva Dorothea Sommer. In 1929, the Ehrenbergs moved to Prague, Czechoslovakia. In February 1939, the Ehrenbergs fled to Britain. Ehrenberg continued his education at Rydal School, a Methodist school in Wales, starting in 1939. After only two years, Ehrenberg was working as a teacher at Rydal and achieved the position of assistant master in mathematics, history and German.
There, he took courses via correspondence at the University of London and graduated with a degree in Ancient History in 1943. Ehrenberg enlisted in the British Army in 1943. He spent his time in the Army in the Intelligence Corps and the East Surrey Regiment, serving with the Eighth Army in Italy from 1944 to 1946 and reaching the rank of sergeant. During this period, Ehrenberg anglicised his name to Geoffrey Rudolph Elton. After his discharge from the army, Elton studied early modern history at University College London, graduating with a PhD in 1949.
Under the supervision of J. E. Neale, Elton was awarded a PhD for his thesis "Thomas Cromwell, Aspects of his Administrative Work", in which Elton first developed the ideas that he was to pursue for the rest of his life. He took British citizenship in 1947.
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