Christopher Seton-Watson (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, August 6, 1918 –

, September 8, 2007) was a British

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

and

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 ...

specializing in

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 ...

and

Italian history The history of Italy covers the ancient period, the Middle Ages, and the modern era. Since classical antiquity, ancient Etruscans, various Italic peoples (such as the Latins, Samnites, and Umbri), Celts, ''Magna Graecia'' colonists, and other an ...

. He taught 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 ...

, and was the founder of the

Association for the Study of Modern Italy The Association for the Study of Modern Italy (ASMI) is a professional society in the United Kingdom for historians, political scientists, geographers, art historians, economists, and specialists in cultural, film and media studies working on 19th ...

Education

Seton-Watson was one of the two sons of

Robert William Seton-Watson Robert William Seton-Watson (20 August 1879, in London – 25 July 1951, in Skye), commonly referred to as R. W. Seton-Watson and also known by the pseudonym Scotus Viator, was a British political activist and historian who played an activ ...

, the activist and historian. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and New College,

Oxford 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 ...

. As a

visiting student A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but d ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

, he regularly shared a taxi with

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

Wartime activities

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 ...

, Seton-Watson served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. He saw action during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

and was evacuated at Dunkirk. He then took part in the

Greek campaign The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

, the North African Campaign (including the Battles of El Alamein) and the Italian Campaign. He was promoted to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

with

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. He wrote about those experiences in ''Dunkirk-Alamein-Bologna: Letters and Diaries of an Artilleryman 1939-1945''.

Academic career

In 1946, Seton-Watson was elected to a

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in Modern History and Politics at

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

, on being awarded an MA as a

war degree War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

. He remained at Oriel until his retirement in 1983 and worked on liberal Italy (1870–1922) and its foreign policy. His best-known work was ''Italy from Liberalism to Fascism, 1870-1925'' (1967). In 1982, he founded the

. While at Oriel, he focused on teaching and also served as a "talent scout" for the British

security services Security Service or security service may refer to: Government * Security agency, a nation's institution for intelligence gathering * List of security agencies (MI5, NSA, KGB, etc.) * (SD), Nazi German agency which translates as "Security Servi ...

Honours

(1940); bar 1944 *Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

(1984)

Works

*''Italy from liberalism to fascism, 1870-1925.'' London, Methuen; New York, Barnes & Noble, 1967. *''The making of a new Europe: R.W. Seton-Watson and the last years of Austria-Hungary.'' With Hugh Seton-Watson. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1981. *''Italia e Inghilterra nell'età dell'imperialismo''. With Enrico Serra. Milan: Istituto per gli studi di politica internazionale, 1990. *''British documents on foreign affairs--reports and papers from the Foreign Office confidential print''. Part II, From the First to the Second World War. Series F, Europe, 1919–1939. With Kenneth Bourne and Donald Cameron Watt. Frederick, Md. : University Publications of America, 1990–96. *''Dunkirk, Alamein, Bologna: letters and diaries of an artilleryman, 1939-1945.'' London : Buckland, 1993.

References

1918 births 2007 deaths Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II English historians Recipients of the Military Cross Military personnel from London {{UK-historian-stub