Charles Hilliard Feinstein, FBA (18 March 1932 – 27 November 2004) was a noted South African and British economic historian. He was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, received his early education at

Parktown Boys' High School Parktown Boys' High School is a public English medium high school for boys situated in Parktown, a suburb of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is one of the oldest schools in Johannesburg. Parktown Boys' sister school is P ...

and studied at Witwatersrand University and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

where he completed his doctorate. In 1958, he joined the Department of Applied Economics at Cambridge. During this period, other notable economic historians such as

Phyllis Deane Phyllis Mary Deane FBA (13 October 1918 – 28 July 2012) was a British economic historian and a historian of economic thought. She served as Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge from 1981 to 1983. Life and career Deane ...

and W. A. Cole were hard at work, extending data series on the UK economy back into previous centuries. In 1972, Feinstein published his ''magnum opus'', ''National Income, Expenditure and Output of the United Kingdom, 1855–1965'', which has since come to be seen as the standard reference work on UK economic data for the period. ''The Times'' said of this book:

Although Feinstein undertook many more investigations, this was perhaps his crowning achievement. Of the several similar projects undertaken in different countries, for example the American, Canadian, Australian and German initiatives, it is fair to say that the one that Feinstein brought into being was the most elegantly reasoned, organised and presented. It was all the more remarkable for being the work largely of one man.

A fellow of

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, Feinstein was also associated with the universities of York, Harvard, Oxford and Cape Town in the course of a distinguished academic career. He was Chichele Professor of Economic History at All Souls College, Oxford for many years, and was instrumental in the creation of the Oxford Masters (MSc and MPhil) in Social and Economic History. The Feinstein Prize, endowed in his honour, is awarded each year to the student on these courses who writes the best thesis. He is also the author of a history of South Africa entitled ''An economic history of South Africa: conquest, discrimination and development'', published posthumously by Cambridge University Press in 2005.

References

External links

* Nicholas Dimsdale
"Charles Feinstein" (obituary)
''The Guardian'', 29 December 2004
"Charles Feinstein (1932–2004), and British National Accounts"
Avner Offer, Nuffield. Includes extensive bibliography. {{DEFAULTSORT:Feinstein, Charles Hilliard British economists Economic historians 1932 births 2004 deaths Chichele Professors of Economic History Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford University of the Witwatersrand alumni Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of Parktown Boys' High School Fellows of the British Academy