Sir Denis William Brogan (11 August 1900 – 5 January 1974) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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and

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 ...

Early life and education

Denis Brogan was born in Glasgow, the eldest son of Denis Brogan (1856–1934), a master tailor, and Elizabeth Toner. His father was originally from

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, and was a liberal-minded pro-Boer and Irish nationalist who, at one point, served as head of the Glasgow branch of the

United Irish League The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...

, while his mother was a sister of John Toner, Bishop of Dunkeld.'Obituary: Sir Denis Brogan', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 7 January 1974. The younger Brogan was educated at St Columcille's Roman Catholic School, Rutherglen, and Rutherglen Academy. Having initially been cajoled by his parents to study medicine at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, he switched to an arts degree following a series of low marks in his examinations, graduating MA Hons. in 1923.Herbert Butterfield, 'Denis Brogan', ''Encounter'', 1 April 1974. Brogan subsequently studied at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, where he obtained a further degree in history in 1925. He then spent an additional year studying American politics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

on a Rockefeller Research Fellowship."Brogan, Sir Denis William (1900–1974)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004; online edition, September 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2018. Brogan had three brothers, of whom the best known was the conservative journalist Colm Brogan (1902–1977). His other two siblings, Willie and Diarmuid, both taught at

St Mungo's Academy St Mungo's Academy is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, comprehensive, secondary school located in Gallowgate, Glasgow. The school was founded in 1858 by the Marist Brothers religious order. The debate team at St Mungo's were the first Scotti ...

in the East End of Glasgow.

Career

Upon returning from Harvard, Brogan was briefly a journalist at ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' of London. He then chose to enter academia, acquiring successive teaching posts at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, and the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. It was while at the latter institution that Brogan published his work ''The American Political System'' (1933), which was later described in ''

'' as "in many ways replac ngthe classic work of

Lord Bryce James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, (10 May 1838 – 22 January 1922), was a British academic, jurist, historian, and Liberal politician. According to Keith Robbins, he was a widely traveled authority on law, government, and history whose expe ...

on American politics." According to

Herbert Butterfield Sir Herbert Butterfield (7 October 1900 – 20 July 1979) was an English historian and philosopher of history, who was Regius Professor of Modern History and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is remembered chiefly for a sh ...

, the left-wing economist

Harold Laski Harold Joseph Laski (30 June 1893 – 24 March 1950) was an English political theorist and economist. He was active in politics and served as the chairman of the British Labour Party from 1945 to 1946 and was a professor at the London School of ...

endowed Brogan with "both the stimulus and the patronage" necessary to write the book. In 1934, Brogan was elected a fellow of

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

. Five years later, in 1939, he moved to the

University of Cambridge 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 ...

to take up the chair in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, becoming a fellow of

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

; he remained there until his retirement in 1968. He was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1966 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1971. Brogan became known for broadcast radio talks, chiefly on historical themes, and as a panellist on BBC Radio's ''

Round Britain Quiz ''Round Britain Quiz'' (''RBQ'') is a panel game that has been broadcast on BBC Radio since 1947, making it the oldest quiz still broadcast on British radio. It was based on a format called ''Transatlantic Quiz'', a contest between American an ...

'', where he affected a testy, hyperacademic persona. In 1963, he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Death

Brogan died in Cambridge on 5 January 1974. He is buried in the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge.

Mark Goldie Mark Goldie is an English historian and Emeritus Professor of Intellectual History at Churchill College, Cambridge. He has written on the English political theorist John Locke and is a member of the Early Modern History and Political Thought and ...

, ''A Guide to Churchill College, Cambridge'' (2009), pp. 62–63. His wife Olwen Phillis Francis (Lady Brogan), OBE, archaeologist and authority on Roman Libya and the mother of his four children – including the historian

Hugh Brogan Denis Hugh Vercingetorix Brogan (20 March 1936 – 26 July 2019) known as Hugh Brogan, was a British historian and biographer. Early life The son of Sir Denis Brogan and Olwen Phillis Francis (Lady Brogan), OBE, archaeologist and authority on R ...

and journalist Patrick Brogan – is also buried in the same cemetery; she later became Olwen Hackett on her second marriage, when she married Charles Hackett.

Works

* ''The American Political System'' (1933
Excerpts
*
Proudhon
' (1934) * ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1935) * ''The Development of modern France, 1870–1939'' (1940 and later editions) * ''Politics and Law in the United States'' (1941
Excerpts

''Is Innocence Enough? Some reflections on foreign affairs''
(1941) * ''The English People: Impressions and Observations'' (1943) * ''The American Character'' (1944) * ''The Free State: some considerations on its practical value (London, 1945) * ''French Personalities and Problems'' (1945
Excerpts
* ''American Themes'' (1948) * ''The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt'' (1950) *
The Price of Revolution
' (1951) * ''Politics in America'' (1954) * ''The French Nation: from Napoleon to Pétain, 1814–1940'' (1957) * ''America in the Modern World'' (1960) * ''Citizenship Today: England, France, the United States'' (1960) * ''Political Patterns in Today's World'', together with Douglas V. Verney (1963) * ''American Aspects'' (1964) * ''Worlds in Conflict'' (1967) * ''France under the Republic'' (1974)

References

External links

Papers of Sir Denis William Brogan, 1900-1974, historian and political scientist

Sir Denis William Brogan
National Portrait Gallery *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brogan, Denis William 1900 births 1974 deaths Writers from Glasgow 20th-century Scottish historians Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Historians of the United States Harvard University alumni People educated at Rutherglen Academy Scottish people of Irish descent Members of the American Philosophical Society