Robert Arthur Humphreys (1907–1999), known as Robin Humphreys, was a British historian, the first professor of

Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, history ...

in the United Kingdom, and the founder of the

Institute of Latin American Studies The Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) was one of nine research institutes that comprised the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. It was located in the landmarked Senate House building in Bloomsbury, central London. F ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. His books cover the emancipation of South America, British diplomacy in Central America, and the evolution of modern Latin America.

Life and career

Born on 6 June 1907, Humphreys was educated at

Lincoln Grammar School Lincoln Grammar School or Lincoln Free School was formed as the result of the amalgamation of the Lincoln City Free School and the Lincoln Chapter Grammar School. The amalgamation occurred in January 1584, but the two schools may have been effec ...

and graduated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1934 he was appointed assistant lecturer in American history at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

(UCL). 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 opposi ...

Humphreys worked at the

British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

in a research capacity. After the war he returned to UCL and was promoted to

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

, becoming, in 1948, the UK's first

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Latin American history. In 1965 Humphreys was the founding Director of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, a position he held until 1974. From 1965 to 1969 he also served as the President of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

. Lynch, John (2001), "Obituary: Robert Arthur Humphreys (1907-1999)", ''

Hispanic American Historical Review ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of Latin American history, the official publication of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American historia ...

'', 81(1):135-138; He died on 2 May 1999 aged 91.

Works

* ''British Consular Reports on the Trade and Politics of Latin America, 1824-1826'' (1940) * ''Latin America'' (1941) * "The Study of Latin-American History in England" * ''William Robertson and his History of America'' (1954) * "

William Hickling Prescott William Hickling Prescott (May 4, 1796 – January 28, 1859) was an American historian and Hispanist, who is widely recognized by historiographers to have been the first American scientific historian. Despite having serious visual impairm ...

: The Man and the Historian" (1959)
''Tradition and Revolt in Latin America, and other essays''
(1969) Bloomsbury Publishing Plc * ''Latin America and the Second World War'' (2 vols., 1981–82) ** ''Volume 1: 1939 - 1942'', Bloomsbury Academic, ** ''Volume 2: 1942 - 1945'', Bloomsbury Academic,

References

1907 births 1999 deaths Historians of Latin America Latin Americanists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Academics of University College London Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Presidents of the Royal Historical Society Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge 20th-century British historians People educated at Lincoln Grammar School {{UK-historian-stub