Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
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Sir Nikolaus Pevsner CBE FBA |
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| Born |
Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner 30 January 1902 Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony |
| Died | 18 August 1983 (aged 81) London, England, UK |
| Resting place | Churchyard of St Peter, Clyffe Pypard, Wiltshire, England, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | PhD (1924) |
| Alma mater | Universities of Leipzig, Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt/Main |
| Occupation | Art and architecture historian |
| Notable work | The Buildings of England |
| Spouse(s) | Lola Kurlbaum (m. 1923) |
| Children | Uta Pevsner, Tom Pevsner, Dieter Pevsner |
| Parent(s) | Hugo and Anna Pevsner |
| Awards | Albert Medal (1975) |
| Website | www |
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner CBE FBA (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German, later British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture. He is best known for his 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, The Buildings of England (1951–74), often simply referred to by his surname.
The son of a Russian-Jewish fur haulier, Nikolaus Pevsner was born in Leipzig, Saxony. He attended the Thomas School and went on to study art history at the Universities of Leipzig, Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt/Main, completing a PhD in 1924 on the baroque merchant houses of Leipzig. In 1923, he married Carola ("Lola") Kurlbaum, the daughter of distinguished Leipzig lawyer Alfred Kurlbaum, one year earlier than they had planned after she had become pregnant. He worked as an assistant keeper at the Dresden Gallery (1924–28).
During this period he became interested in establishing the supremacy of German modernist architecture after becoming aware of Le Corbusier's Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau at the Paris Exhibition of 1925. In 1928 he contributed the volume on Italian baroque painting to the Handbuch der Kunstwissenschaft, a multi-volume series providing an overview of the history of European art. He taught at the University of Göttingen (1929–33), offering a specialist course on English art and architecture.
According to biographer Stephen Games, Pevsner welcomed many of the economic and cultural policies of the early Hitler regime. However, due to Nazi race laws he was forced to resign his lectureship in 1933. Later that year he moved to England. His first post was an 18-month research fellowship at the University of Birmingham, found for him by friends in Birmingham and partly funded by the Academic Assistance Council. A study of the role of the designer in the industrial process, the research produced a generally critical account of design standards in Britain which he published as An Enquiry into Industrial Art in England (Cambridge University Press, 1937). He was subsequently employed as a buyer of modern textiles, glass and ceramics for the Gordon Russell furniture showrooms in London.
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