Felix Gilbert
Encyclopedia
Felix Gilbert was a German-born American historian of early modern and modern Europe
. Gilbert was born in Baden-Baden
, Germany
to a middle-class Jewish family, and part of the Mendelssohn Bartholdy clan. In the latter half of the 1920s, Gilbert studied under Friedrich Meinecke
at the University of Berlin. Gilbert's area of expertise was the Renaissance
, especially the diplomatic history of the period. He was a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study
in Princeton from 1962 to 1975, and maintained an active involvement as an emeritus faculty member until his death in 1991.
"The End of the European Era: 1890 to the Present"
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Gilbert was born in Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to a middle-class Jewish family, and part of the Mendelssohn Bartholdy clan. In the latter half of the 1920s, Gilbert studied under Friedrich Meinecke
Friedrich Meinecke
Friedrich Meinecke was a liberal German historian, probably the most famous German historian of his generation. As a representative of an older tradition still writing after World War II, he was an important figure to the end of his life.-Life:Meinecke was born in Salzwedel in the Province of Saxony...
at the University of Berlin. Gilbert's area of expertise was the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, especially the diplomatic history of the period. He was a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton from 1962 to 1975, and maintained an active involvement as an emeritus faculty member until his death in 1991.
Work
- Johann Gustav Droysen und die preussisch-deutsche Frage, diss., Berlin 1931.
- Makers of Modern Strategy: Military Thought from Machiavelli to Hitler, (co-edited with Edward M. Earle and Gordon A. CraigGordon A. CraigGordon Alexander Craig was a Scottish-American historian of German history and of diplomatic history.-Early life:...
) Princeton, N.J. 1943; New York 1966, 1971. - "Bernardo Rucellai and the Orti Oricellari: A Study on the Origin of Modern Political Thought". In: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Volume 12, 1949, p. 101-131.
- The Diplomats, 1919-1939, (co-edited with Gordon A. Craig), Princeton, N.J. 1954; New York 1963.
- To the Farewell Address: Ideas of Early American Foreign Policy, Princeton, N.J. 1961.
- Machiavelli and Guicciardini: Politics and History in Sixteenth-Century Florence, Princeton, N.J. 1965.
- History: Choice and Commitment, Cambridge, Mass. 1977.
- The Pope, His Banker, and Venice, Cambridge, Mass. 1981.
- A European Past: Memoirs, 1905-1945, 1988.
- History: Politics or Culture? Reflections on Ranke and Burckhardt, 1990.
"The End of the European Era: 1890 to the Present"