Mikuláš Teich (24 July 1918 – 16 August 2018) was a Slovak-British

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesopo ...

, best known for the series of histories in national context which he co-edited with

Roy Porter Roy Sydney Porter, FBA (31 December 1946 – 3 March 2002) was a British historian known for his work on the history of medicine. He retired in 2001 from the director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine at University College L ...

. He was married to the economic historian

Alice Teichova Alice Teichova (''née'' Schwarz)Richard EvansMikuláš Teich obituary: Scholar who focused on the history of science 5 September 2018. (19 September 1920 – 12 March 2015) was an Austrian-born British economist and economic historian. She was co ...

Life

Mikuláš Teich was born in Kassa (

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

) on 24 July 1918, and grew up in an assimilated Jewish family. He studied medicine at

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the seco ...

, where he became politically active. After the German invasion in March 1939, he and his older brother decided to emigrate, and arrived in London in April 1939. Helped by the Montefiore family, he studied for an external university degree in chemistry at

University College, Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

. He went on to study at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, joining the Communist Party alongside Alice, who became his wife in 1944. After he gained his doctorate in 1946, they returned to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. However, Teich was there labelled a “destructive element” and lost his job in the chemistry department. He managed to build another career in the history of science, and was reinstated as a Party member in 1963. After the repression of the Prague Spring, he and Alice managed to escape to West Germany and on to England. There

Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...

found him employment at

Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

until he became a founding fellow of

Robinson College, Cambridge Robinson College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both undergraduate and graduate students of bo ...

. He remained a Fellow of Robinson until the end of his life, on 16 August 2018.Richard Evans
Mikuláš Teich obituary: Scholar who focused on the history of science
5 September 2018.

Works

Books

* (ed. with Robert Young) ''Changing perspectives in the history of science: essays in honour of Joseph Needham'', 1973 * (with Alica Teichova) ''Two essays on central European economic history'', 1981 * (ed. with Roy Porter) ''The Enlightenment in national context'', 1981 * (ed. with Roy Porter) ''Revolution in history'', 1986 * (ed. with Roy Porter) ''Romanticism in national context'', 1988 * (ed. with Roy Porter) ''Fin de siècle and its legacy'', 1990 * (ed. with Roy Porter) ''The Renaissance in national context'', 1991 * (ed, with Roy Porter) ''The scientific revolution in national context'', 1992 * (ed. with Roy Porter) ''The National question in Europe in historical context'', 1992 * (ed. with Dorothy M. Needham) ''A documentary history of biochemistry, 1770-1940'', 1992 * (ed. with Roy Poter) ''The Reformation in national context'', 1994 * (ed with Roy Porter) ''Sexual knowledge, sexual science : the history of attitudes to sexuality'', 1994 * (ed. with Roy Porter) ''Drugs and narcotics in history'', 1995 * (ed. with Roy Porter) ''The industrial revolution in national context'', 1996 * (ed. with Roy Porter and Bo Gustaffson)''Nature and society in national context'', 1997 * (ed.) ''Bohemia in history'', 1998 * (with Alice Teichová) ''Zwischen der kleinen und der grossen Welt : ein gemeinsames Leben im 20. Jahrhundert'' etween the small and the large world: a common life in the 20th century 2005 * (ed. with

Dušan Kováč Dušan Kováč (born 3 January 1942) is a Slovak historian and writer. He specializes in Slovak and Central European history of the 19th and 20th centuries, the author or co-author of several synthetic works about Slovak history. The head of the ...

and Martin D Brown) ''

Slovakia in History ''Slovakia in History'' is an edited collection of essays on the history of Slovakia in English published by Cambridge University Press in 2011, covering the period between the Duchy of Nitra in the first millennium and the 1993 dissolution of Cz ...

'', 2011 * ''The Scientific Revolution Revisited'', 2015

Articles

* 'Haldane and Lysenko revisited', ''Journal of the History of Biology Revisited'', Vol. 40, No. 3 (Sep. 2007), pp.557-63

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teich, Mikulas 1918 births 2018 deaths Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom Fellows of Robinson College, Cambridge Writers from Košice Slovak centenarians British centenarians Men centenarians