Lewis Henry Gann (1924–1997) was an American historian, political scientist and archivist. He was particularly known for his research in

African history The history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans and — around 300–250,000 years ago—anatomically modern humans ('' Homo sapiens''), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of d ...

and specialized in the history of

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...

in colonial era, writing a number of works in collaboration with Peter Duignan. He also worked on aspects of the history of the United States, European history, and plural societies.

Biography

Gann was born Ludwig Hermann Ganz in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, Germany into a German Jewish family. His elder brother was the Germanist Peter Ganz. In 1938, Ludwig and his brother escaped from Nazi anti-Semitic persecution and settled in the United Kingdom, joining his father who had been employed by textile company

Morton Sundour Morton Sundour Fabrics Limited was a British textile manufacturer based at Dentonhill, Carlisle, England. In 1980 it was called "one of Britain's major textile firms". It ceased trading in November 1996. It was founded in 1914, by Alexander Mor ...

based in Carlisle. His mother joined them in 1939. He was educated at

Carlisle Grammar School Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

in northern England. In 1943, Gann enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers and served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was demobilised in 1947. After the war, Gann joined the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and gained a bachelor's degree in Modern History from Balliol College, Oxford in 1950. After graduating, he travelled to

where he took a research post at the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in Northern Rhodesia (now

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

). He continued his studies at Oxford and gained a masters ( B.Litt.) and

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in 1964. He also worked at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

(1952–54). In 1954, he emigrated to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

after being offered a post at the National Archives of Rhodesia. Gann emigrated 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 territori ...

in 1963 where he took up a position at the Hoover Institution Library and Archives in Stanford University as a senior fellow and curator of the Institute's African and European collections. He held a number of visiting fellowships at such institutions as the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and as a senior research associate, St Antony’s College, Oxford University and was a fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

in London and was an Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

. During the course of his academic career, Gann authored or edited 38 books, mainly on the subject of

, European History, and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He produced a number of important works in collaboration with

Peter Duignan Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

. The two notably edited the five-volume ''Colonialism in Africa, 1870–1960'' series (1969–74) with

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

. He was married to Rita Gann and they had two children. Lewis Gann died at

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

on 17 January 1997.

Notable publications

;Monographs *''The Birth of a Plural Society: The Development of Northern Rhodesia under the British South Africa Company, 1894-1914'' (Manchester: Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, 1958). Second edition published in 1968. *''A History of Northern Rhodesia: Early Days to 1953'' (London: Chatto & Windus, 1964). Several editions. *''Guerrillas in History'' (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1971). *''Central Africa: The Former British States'' (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1971). *''The Makings of Central Africa'' (Salisbury: Central Africa Historical Association, 1972). *''Neo-colonialism, imperialism, and the "New Class"'' (Menlo Park: Institute for Humane Studies, 1975). ;With Peter Duignan *''White Settlers in Tropical Africa'' (Hammondsworth: Penguin, 1962). * Burden of Empire (The Pall Mall Press, Published for Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 1968) *''Africa and the World: An Introduction to the History of Sub-Saharan Africa from Antiquity to 1840'' (San Francisco: Chandler, 1972). *''The Rulers of German Africa 1884-1914'' (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977). *''The Rulers of British Africa, 1870-1914'' (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1978). *''The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 1884-1914'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979). *The United States and Africa, A History (Cambridge Press, 1984) *''The Hispanics in the United States: A History'' (Stanford: Hoover Institute, 1986) *The Rebirth of the West (Blackwell, 1992) *Contemporary Europe and the Atlantic Alliance (Blackwell, 1998)

Biography

Notable publications

References

Further reading