Herwig Wolfram (born 14 February 1934) is an Austrian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

who is

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Medieval History In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and

Auxiliary Sciences of History Auxiliary (or ancillary) sciences of history are scholarly disciplines which help evaluate and use historical sources and are seen as auxiliary for historical research. Many of these areas of study, classification and analysis were originally deve ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

and the former Director of the . He is a leading member of the Vienna School of History, and internationally known for his authoritative works on the

history of Austria The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states. In the late Iron Age Austria was occupied by people of the Hallstatt Celtic culture (c. 800 BC), they first organized as a Celtic kingdom referred to by the Romans ...

, the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

, and relationships between the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

and the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

Biography

Herwig Wolfram was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria on 14 February 1934. He studied history and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

at the

since 1952, gaining a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

there in 1957. He subsequently served as University Assistant at the Institute of History at the University of Vienna (1959-1961) and the (1962-1969). Wolfram gained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Vienna in 1966. Wolfram was Visiting Professor at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

from 1968 to 1969, and has subsequently made many visits to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Since 1969, Wolfram was Professor of

and

at the University of Vienna. From 1983 to 2002, Wolfram was also Director of the Institute of Austrian Historical Research. He was since retired from the University of Vienna as

Research

Wolfram is a leading figure in the Vienna School of History.. "Herwig Wolfram, whose writings and teaching in Vienna have dominated Gothic history since the 1970s..." His book ''History of the Goths'' (1979) has been translated into a number of languages and been published in several completely revised editions. It is considered the standard work on the

, and a work of large importance to the study of

in general.. "By now Wolfram's History of the Goths requires no explanation or comment. It has already established itself as a classic... Wolfram has oweverabsorbed, perhaps too uncritically, the controversial thesis of Walter Goffart..." In the more recent editions of this work, Wolfram has adopted some of the controversial theories of

Walter Goffart Walter Goffart (born February 22, 1934) is a German-born American historian who specializes in Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages. He taught for many years in the History Department and Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Tor ...

. Wolfram and Heather's books on the Goths are considered the foremost studies on the subject.

Honours and awards

* Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences * Corresponding member of Monumenta Historica * Corresponding member of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...

* Austrian Medal for Science and Art (2000) * Cardinal Innitzer Prize (2011) * Corresponding member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sl, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members o ...

(2015)

Select bibliography

Works in English translation. For a complete list see th
German National Library
*
History of the Goths
',

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 1990. *''The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples'', University of California Press, 1997. *''Conrad II, 990-1039: Emperor of Three Kingdoms'',

Pennsylvania State University Press The Penn State University Press, also known as The Pennsylvania State University Press, was established in 1956 and is a non-profit publisher of scholarly books and journals. It is the independent publishing branch of the Pennsylvania State Un ...

, 2006.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

Online

External links

Profile at the University of Vienna website
(in German)

(in German)
Biographical notes
(in German) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfram, Herwig 1934 births 20th-century Austrian historians Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Germanic studies scholars Living people Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art