Christopher John Hesketh Duggan (4 November 1957 – 2 November 2015) was a British

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 species; as well as the ...

and academic. He specialised in the political, social and cultural history of modern Italy. He began his career as a research fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford and then at All Souls College, Oxford. In 1987, he moved to the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

where he remained until his death. He was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Modern Italian History from 2002.

Early life and education

On 4 November 1957, Duggan was born to Margaret (née Hesketh) and John Duggan in Petts Wood,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. His mother was a nurse and social worker, and his father worked as a shipbroker. He was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, an all-boys public school in London, and at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

, an all-boys public school in the grounds of Westminster Abbey. At the age of 11, he won an essay competition and was awarded a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

cruise as the prize. Between school and university, Duggan went on holiday to Italy and explored the country on a Honda CB175 motorbike. He then studied

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. He was mostly interested in

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

at the beginning of his studies, but became interested in the history of modern Italy after being taught by Denis Mack Smith. He graduated with a first class

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1979 with one of the top firsts of his year. Having completed his bachelor's degree, Duggan spent a year living in Italy. He once had his flat raided by the DIGOS, the Italian anti-terrorist and organised crime unit, because they suspected him of being a foreign subversive; however, he was not arrested or charged. He returned to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

to complete a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(DPhil) degree under the supervision of Mack Smith. His thesis was completed in 1985 and was titled "''Fascism's campaign against the mafia''".

Academic career

Duggan began his academic career as a junior research fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford between 1983 and 1985. From 1985 to 1990, he was a post-doctoral research fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. During this period, he assisted Mack Smith and Moses Finley with updating their ''A History of Sicily'' book; this revised version was published in 1986. His first major work, ''Fascism and the Mafia'', grew out of his DPhil, and was published in Italian in 1986 and in English in 1989. From 1990 to 1997, he retained a link with All Souls College, having been elected a Fifty-Pound Fellow. In 1987, Duggan joined the

as a lecturer in history. Unusually for a historian, he was not based in the Department of History but in the Department of

European Studies European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on the History of Western civilization and the evolution of Western culture, as well as on current developments in European integration. Some ...

. He taught Italian

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

. In 1994, he was promoted to Reader. In 2002, he was appointed

of Modern Italian History. From 2008 to 2013, he was Head of the School of Languages and European Studies (later renamed the School of Literature and Languages). Shortly before his death, Duggan had been appointed to a research professorship in the Department of History, Reading, and had been elected as a Two Year Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. Duggan wrote books about Italian history. ''A Concise History of Italy'' (1994) allowed him to return to his original interest in medieval history. First published in Italian in 2000, ''Francesco Crispi 1818–1901'' (2002), the first biography in English on Prime Minister Francesco Crispi, explores Crispi's evolution from a revolutionary democrat to a bellicose authoritarian and his role in the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

. ''The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy since 1796'' (2007) focuses on Italy in the 19th and 20th centuries. In his prize-winning book ''Fascist Voices'' (2012), he used the diaries, memoirs and letters of thousands of ordinary Italian citizens to investigate why so many had closely identified with the early 20th-century

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

regime of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

Death

Duggan was found dead on 2 November 2015 at his home in

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was 57 years of age. A memorial service was held in the chapel of All Souls College, Oxford on 12 December. A full inquest into his death recorded a verdict of suicide.

Personal life

Duggan met his wife Jennifer Mundy at the

, and they married in 1987. She is an art historian and was the Head of Art Historical Research at the Tate Gallery. They had two children: Amelia and Thomas.

Honours

In 2013 Duggan's book ''Fascist Voices'' (2012) was awarded the prestigious Wolfson History Prize. He received £25,000 in prize money. His doctoral supervisor and mentor, Denis Mack Smith, had been awarded the same prize 36 years earlier. ''Fascist Voices'' was also named "Political History Book of the Year" in the Political Book Awards of 2013. In 2008 Duggan was appointed a ''Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana'' (Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity) by the Italian president. This is one of the highest honours Italy can give to a foreign citizen.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Christopher 1957 births 2015 deaths People from Petts Wood People educated at Dulwich College People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British historians Historians of Italy Historians of Sicily Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Academics of the University of Reading Suicides by hanging in England 2015 suicides Wolfson History Prize winners