Timothy Garton Ash
Encyclopedia
Timothy Garton Ash is a British
historian
, author and commentator. He is currently serving as Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. Much of his work has been concerned with the late modern and contemporary history
of Central and Eastern Europe
. He has specifically written about the Communist
dictatorship
s of that region, their experience with the secret police, the Revolutions of 1989
and the transformation of the former Eastern Bloc states into member states of the European Union
. More recently, he has focused on the role of Europe
in an increasingly post-Western world and the challenge of combining freedom and diversity—especially in relation to free speech. He also writes a widely syndicated weekly column on international affairs
.
, an independent school
for boys in the market town
of Sherborne
in Dorset
in South West England
, followed by Exeter College
at the University of Oxford
, where he studied Modern History
. For post-graduate study, he went to St. Antony's College, Oxford, and then, in the still divided Berlin, the Free University
in West Berlin and the Humboldt University
in East Berlin.
and a columnist for The Independent
. He became a Fellow at St Antony's College
in 1989, a senior fellow at Stanford University
's Hoover Institution
in 2000, and Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford
in 2004. He has written a weekly column in The Guardian
since 2004 and is a long-time contributor to the New York Review of Books. His column is also translated in the Turkish daily Radikal
.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
historian
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 study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, author and commentator. He is currently serving as Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. Much of his work has been concerned with the late modern and contemporary history
Contemporary history
Contemporary history describes the period timeframe that is without any intervening time closely connected to the present and is a certain perspective of modern history. The term "contemporary history" has been in use at least by the early 19th century. In the widest context of this use,...
of Central and Eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe is a term describing former communist states in Europe, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989/90. In scholarly literature the abbreviations CEE or CEEC are often used for this concept...
. He has specifically written about the Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
s of that region, their experience with the secret police, the Revolutions of 1989
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989 were the revolutions which overthrew the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries.The events began in Poland in 1989, and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and...
and the transformation of the former Eastern Bloc states into member states of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. More recently, he has focused on the role of Europe
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...
in an increasingly post-Western world and the challenge of combining freedom and diversity—especially in relation to free speech. He also writes a widely syndicated weekly column on international affairs
International affairs
International affairs may refer to:* Diplomacy* International relations* International Affairs Association* International Affairs , a peer-reviewed academic journal first published in 1924...
.
Education
Garton Ash was educated at Sherborne SchoolSherborne School
Sherborne School is a British independent school for boys, located in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England. It is one of the original member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....
, an independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
for boys in the market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Sherborne
Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. The population of the town is 9,350 . 27.1% of the population is aged 65 or...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
in South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
, followed by Exeter College
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he studied Modern History
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
. For post-graduate study, he went to St. Antony's College, Oxford, and then, in the still divided Berlin, the Free University
Free University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...
in West Berlin and the Humboldt University
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
in East Berlin.
Life and career
In the 1980s, Garton Ash was Foreign Editor of The SpectatorThe Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
and a columnist for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
. He became a Fellow at St Antony's College
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
in 1989, a senior fellow at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
's Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
in 2000, and Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in 2004. He has written a weekly column in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
since 2004 and is a long-time contributor to the New York Review of Books. His column is also translated in the Turkish daily Radikal
Radikal
Radikal is a daily Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul. It has been published since 1997 by Aydın Doğan's Doğan Media Group ....
.
Personal life
He and his wife Danuta live predominantly in Oxford, although also in Stanford. They have two sons.Awards and Honours
- Prix Européen de l'Essai Charles Veillon (1989)
- Somerset Maugham Award
- Order of Merit from the Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
- Order of Merit from GermanyGermanyGermany , 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...
- Order of Merit from PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- Honorary doctorate from St. Andrew's UniversitySt. Andrew's University, also known as St Andrew's University, is a private, coeducational university located in Izumi, Osaka, Japan.- Faculties :The university has faculties in International studies, Liberal Arts, Sociology, Economics, Business and Administration, of Law...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... - CMGOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
- GeorgeGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
Orwell PrizeOrwell PrizeThe Orwell Prize used to be regarded as the pre-eminent British prize for political writing.Three prizes are awarded each year: one for a book, one for journalism and another for blogging... - Kullervo Killinen -prize from Finland (2006)
- Honorary doctorate from Katholieke Universiteit LeuvenKatholieke Universiteit LeuvenThe Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
, BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... - FellowFellowA fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Royal Society of ArtsRoyal Society of ArtsThe Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
See also
- European Council on Foreign RelationsEuropean Council on Foreign RelationsThe ' is the first pan-European think tank. Launched in October 2007, its objective is to conduct research and promote informed debate across Europe on the development of coherent and effective European values based foreign policy....
- Appel de BloisAppel de BloisAppel de Blois is an initiative by Liberté pour l’Histoire to work against legislative authorities criminalizing the past through the legislative, thus putting more and more obstacles in the way of historical research....
- SalonProject ForumProject Forum is a non-profit organisation established in 2006 in Bratislava, Slovakia. The organisation’s main mission is to support education, promote culture and create space for debate and polemical exchange in Europe....
External links
- Official Website
- Articles by Timothy Garton Ash at Journalisted
- Column archives at The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Dahrendorf Programme for the Study of Freedom
- Garton Ash on Facts Are Subversive
- In dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi
- Stanford public lecture