Modris Eksteins ( lv, Modris Ekšteins; born December 13, 1943) is a

Latvian Canadian Latvian Canadians ( lv, Kanādas latvieši) are Canadians of full or partial Latvian descent. At the 2011 census, there were about 27,355 people of Latvian descent in Canada. History Although by 1921 the Canadian government considered all pers ...

historian with a special interest in German history and modern culture. Born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, his works include ''Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age'' (1989), which won the

Wallace K. Ferguson Prize The Canadian Historical Association (CHA; French ''Société historique du Canada'', SHC) is a Canadian organization founded in 1922 for the purposes of promoting historical research and scholarship. It is a bilingual, not-for-profit, charitable o ...

and the

Trillium Book Award The Trillium Book Award (french: Prix littéraire Trillium or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which is o ...

. ''Walking Since Daybreak: A Story of Eastern Europe, World War II and the Heart of Our Century'' (1999), which juxtaposes the history of World War II and Latvia with personal memoir, and won the Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize, and ''Solar Dance: Genius, Forgery, and the Eclipse of Certainty'' (2012), which seeks to interpret the enormous posthumous success of

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

and discusses his forger Otto Wacker, and won the 2013 British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. His work has been translated into German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Latvian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. After emigrating to Canada as a child, Eksteins, son of a Baptist minister, settled first in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

and then in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, where he attended

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

on scholarship and then the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

(

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

) from which he graduated with a BA in 1965. Meanwhile, he attained a Diploma from

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in 1963. He then studied at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

( St. Antony's College) as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, earning his BPhil in 1967, and

DPhil 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 ...

in 1970. He joined the Division of Humanities at

University of Toronto Scarborough The University of Toronto Scarborough, also known as U of T Scarborough or UTSC, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set up ...

in 1970, retiring as professor emeritus of history in 2010.

Works

* ''Theodor Heuss und die Weimarer Republik'' (1969), Ernst Klett Verlag * ''The Limits of Reason: The German Democratic Press and the Collapse of Weimar Democracy'' (1975), Oxford University Press, * ''Nineteenth-Century Germany'' (1983), Gunter Narr Verlag, , co-editor * ''Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age'' (1989), Houghton Mifflin, * ''Walking Since Daybreak: A Story of Eastern Europe, World War II and the Heart of Our Century'' (1999), Houghton Mifflin, * ''Diaghilev Was Here'' (2005), Diaghilev Festival Foundation, , co-author * ''Solar Dance: Genius, Forgery, and the Eclipse of Certainty'' (2012), Knopf Canada,

Notes

External links

Interview
on CBC ''

Ideas In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being. ...

'', November 29, 2012
Modris Eksteins
on ''

History Today ''History Today'' is an illustrated history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents serious and authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and pub ...

'' 1943 births Living people 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Latvian emigrants to Canada Latvian World War II refugees Historians of Germany Cultural historians Upper Canada College alumni Trinity College (Canada) alumni University of Toronto alumni Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford Canadian Rhodes Scholars University of Toronto faculty 21st-century Canadian historians {{Latvia-bio-stub