Leonard Krieger (28 August 1918 – 12 October 1990) was an American historian who paid particular attention to
Modern Europe
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500 to AD 1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500).
The first early ...
, especially
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. He was influential as an intellectual historian, and particularly for his discussion of
historicism
Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...
. He has been called "the most intellectual historian in the United States during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
". He was a member of both the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
and the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
, 1980. Accessed November 22, 2015. "Krieger, Leonard 63s, 69-70 HS, Modern Europe Born 1918 Newark, NJ." His brother was the literary theorist
Murray Krieger
Murray Krieger (November 27, 1923 – August 5, 2000) was an American literary critic and theorist. He was a professor at the University of Minnesota, the University of Iowa from 1963, and then the University of California, Irvine. In 1999, t ...
. He died of
progressive supranuclear palsy
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset degenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty ...
(PSP) in 1990.
Works
*''The German Idea of Freedom'' (1957)
*''The Politics of Discretion'' (1965)
*"Culture, Cataclysm, and Contingency," ''The Journal of Modern History'' Vol. 40, No. 4, December 1968
*''Kings and Philosophers 1689-1789'' (1970)
*"The Historical Hannah Arendt," ''The Journal of Modern History'' Vol. 48, No. 4, December 1976
*''Ranke: The Meaning of History'' (1977)
*''Time's Reasons'' (1989)
*''Ideas and Events: Professing History'' (1992)
References
Sources
*Carl E. Schorske, "Obituary: Leonard Krieger 1918-1990", ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', Vol. 52, No. 2 (April–June 1991), pp. 340
*Malachi Haim Hacohen, "Review: Leonard Krieger: Historicization and Political Engagement in Intellectual History", ''History and Theory'', Vol. 35, No. 1 (February 1996), pp. 80–130