Sir Peter Edward Lionel Russell (24 October 1913 – 22 June 2006) was a British

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 ...

whose main area of study was Spain and Portugal in the medieval period.

Early life and military

Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 24 October 1913, Russell moved to the UK at the age of 12 with his mother and brothers, he received his schooling at Cheltenham College and studied French, Spanish and Portuguese as an undergraduate at Queen's College, Oxford, graduating with a First in 1935. His doctoral research focused on the Plantagenet involvement in the Iberian Peninsula and was guided by

Maurice Powicke Sir Frederick Maurice Powicke (1879–1963) was an English medieval historian. He was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford and was a professor at Queen's University, Belfast and the Victoria University of Manchester, and from 1928 until his re ...

and

V. H. Galbraith Vivian Hunter Galbraith (15 December 1889 – 25 November 1976) was an English historian, fellow of the British Academy and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History. Early career Galbraith was born in Sheffield, son of David Galbraith, ...

but was incomplete by the outbreak of war in 1939. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

he undertook assignments in Spain for British Intelligence, this resulted in his arrest and expulsion in 1938. He served in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army during the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

serving in the Caribbean, West Africa and the Far East and reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Academic career

His first appointments were as college lecturer at St John's College, Oxford in 1937 and Queen's College Oxford in 1938. After resuming his academic work post war he was made a fellow of Queen's. In 1953 he became King Alfonso XIII Professor of Spanish Studies, a position he held until his retirement, and Director of Portuguese Studies. He retired in 1981 and was made Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by Oxford University. He received honours from the Spanish, Portuguese and British governments being made commander of the order of Isabel la Católica in 1989, commander of the order of the Infante Dom Henrique in 1993 and being knighted in 1995. Four festschrifts have been published in his honour. He is depicted in several novels by

Javier Marías Javier Marías Franco (20 September 1951 – 11 September 2022) was a Spanish author, translator, and columnist. Marías published fifteen novels, including '' A Heart So White'' (''Corazón tan blanco,'' 1992'')'' and '' Tomorrow in the Battle ...

as the character Sir Peter Wheeler

Selected publications

* The English Intervention in Spain and Portugal in the Time of Edward III and Richard II, OUP 1955 * Cervantes, OUP 1985 * Portugal, Spain, and the African Atlantic, 1343-1490: chivalry and crusade from John of Gaunt to Henry the Navigator, Ashgate 1995 * Prince Henry ‘the Navigator’: a Life, Yale 2000

References

* Bruce Taylor. Peter Edward Lionel Russell 1913–2006, Proceedings of the British Academy, 172, 275–289
Obituary from ''The Independent''

Obituary from ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Peter Edward 1913 births 2006 deaths 20th-century British historians New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom